Vandread Unsung Hero
by BountyRook
Summary: Seth Reager is a Gradian who had been dealt a bad hand too many times in his life. He reached his breaking point after his last mission for Gradius and decided to leave it all in the dust, taking the Alpinia with him. Now thanks to a mission for a client he finds himself in another battle for something much bigger. The question is what hand will he be dealt this time?
1. The Opening

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius.**

**Chapter I: The Opening**

* * *

In a distant sector of space, there is a large space colony in orbit with ships docking and taking off.

Inside the colony is a large number of people going on with their lives as the station bustled with activity. Some people were buying stuff from the trading shops, some were just having a walk around, some were at home, at work, some were standing on guard duty with weaponry in hands and some were preparing for trips to other planets.

One of the people is a man with the height of 5'9" and athletically built and looked to be in his early twenties. He has pale skin, black hair in a durag and soul piercing black eyes that made people give him a clear path as he walked with a purpose to his destination. He is wearing a black Kevlar weave flight suit, gloves and boots and a pair of dog tags around his neck.

As he walked through the crowded but uplifting path he reflected over his past, his decisions and what led to his current life.

_**Flashback Start**_

_Operation Solar Assault was a success._

_The core of the mysterious enemy fortress that was on a course for planet Gradius was destroyed and with that the fortress was no more and once more Gradius was saved, and it was all due to the efforts of the three pilots that did the job and escaped on time before the explosion._

_Naomi Veron, the pilot of the BP-592A Vic Viper, leader of the three-pilot team and second oldest child of the Veron family, well known for their piloting skills and being cousins of the legendary James Burton or Emperor Lars the 18__th__; Cecilia Daley, the pilot of the LS-379G Lord British and the only daughter of a humble civilian family from Latis, Gradius' ally; and finally there was Seth Reager, formally named Seth Veron, eldest child, only son and former black sheep of the Veron family, adopted child of the Reager family, a just as famous family of pilots, an ex-con, and the pilot of the WC-672H Alpinia._

_After the trio's return, the citizens of Gradius congratulated them for their success. However for Naomi, she was now at peace with herself. Her best friend Cecilia and her estranged older brother Seth had fought alongside her to defend their home._

_She and her parents had been truly devastated when they discovered that Seth had been locked up on trumped up charges of endangering the safety of planet Gradius upon their return home and more so with his adoption into the Reager family after he had been acquitted of such charges. The family had fought tooth and nail to get Seth back but he and the Reagers would have none of it. _

_Naomi had made efforts to set things right between her and her older brother while they were in the Gradius Academy and while they were pilots but had made little progress as Seth had made it clear to her that he wanted nothing to do with her at all. _

_When the threat of the mysterious enemy fortress that was on a course for their home arrived Naomi, Cecilia and Seth were the three pilots assigned with the mission of taking out the enemy fortress and the trio launched off to deal with the enemy. Seth rarely communicated with them during the mission but he worked with them to complete the mission. With their mission now a success thanks to their teamwork, Naomi expected that everyone would be happy afterwards, including Seth._

_Seth however wanted no part of them after suffering extensively at the hands of Gradius' justice system and his family's neglect. He had worked himself to the ground to be a pilot when his family gave his sister everything while leaving him to rot. When he was falsely accused of endangering the safety of his home and locked up for it and worse his family had left for some training trip for Naomi and didn't even come home to help him after their friends the Reagers had sent a message to them about his situation, Seth simply snapped inside. Worse the real culprit of the crime was still free that is until Seth found the man and beat him within an inch of his life and found out why it all happened before he killed the bastard. Then the death of his adoptive parents during a diplomatic mission tipped him over the edge._

_He may have fought alongside his sister to save their home but it was because it was his job as a Gradius pilot and nothing more. Truthfully, he had lost all loyalty to Gradius after their injustice towards him and their inability to catch the true culprit of the crime they locked him up for, which he did for them instead. Not only that he could tell that many of the higher ups at command were not happy to see that he had survived Operation Solar Assault. All that convinced him that there was no point working for such ungrateful, arrogant bastards. So he decided to cut his ties with everyone. _

_As everyone celebrated the successful mission, Seth silently left the party, packed up his few belongings and left a note. He was going to meet an old friend of his that had also been a victim of injustice before she too snapped and left.__When he was finished he entered the Alpinia and left planet Gradius with no one being the wiser until it was too late, and by the then he'd be long gone. _

_**Flashback End**_

Seth had no regrets about making his decision to leave everyone behind the way he did. There wasn't anyone he left behind that he was fond of. The only reason why he didn't leave earlier was because of the Reagers that he loved even more than his _original _family. Besides he wouldn't have it any other way.

He liked his new life. He enjoyed his freedom to operate as he wanted.

Seth Reager had made a name for himself as a freelance mercenary and he was well known in this colony as well as this sector. He was either your best friend who had your back for life, or your worst enemy and there was nowhere in the galaxy you could hide from him. It was that simple with him. And while he interacted with others he was mostly apathetic and kept to himself.

Going through a pair of sliding doors brought Seth out of his thoughts as he saw that he'd arrived at his destination. He walked into a reception room and went straight to the blonde woman at the front desk who was wearing a white dress with orange stripes. The woman looked up and smiled in recognition of the man in front of her.

"Welcome back Mr. Reager. How are you today?"

"I'm good...Thank you for asking, Hana." Seth replied, "By the way, is she in?"

"Yes she is. And she's been expecting you too." Hana answered.

"She's always expecting me…" Seth smirked, "…Anyways thank you Hana."

Seth walked past the front desk and through another set of sliding doors into the next room. It is a wide circular office with multiple chairs, tables, a flat screen TV, couches and even a bar and a view screen at the end that showed the calm void of space. At the center of the room is a table with two chairs at opposite ends. In one of the chairs is a woman with her back turned to Seth and viewing the calm void of space.

"Losing yourself in space Miranda?" Seth asked.

"Well it calms me down, helping me forget things that should be forgotten." The woman now known as Miranda replied.

"Just like drinking calms you down and make you forget things." Seth said, "But I digress, it does the same for me since I've got things I never want to remember either."

Miranda turned around to face Seth, giving him a clear view of her. Miranda wore a red tank top, red skirt and black boots. She had tanned skin, long brown hair, blue eyes that showed discipline and years of experience ahead of her age and appeared to be in her late twenties. She also had a nice hour glass figure and D cup breasts and carried herself with confidence. Miranda Locke was Seth's only friend in Gradius before his false imprisonment that had left after suffering injustice at the hands of Gradius' military. She was a veteran pilot in their military and the test pilot of the Alpinia before Seth became the assigned pilot. When she heard of his predicament through the Reagers, she used her resources to get to the bottom of things and found evidence to exonerate him. After that she offered him a chance at a new life away from Gradius whenever he wanted, a chance Seth had taken three years ago.

She looked at Seth briefly before smiling and walking towards him.

"Good to see you again Seth." Miranda said as she hugged Seth, which he returned.

"Feelings mutual." Seth replied before both separated, "You're expecting me as usual."

"Yes I am. Even though we're friends you're more like the younger brother I wish I had." Miranda said before her expression turned serious, "And I'm glad you're back here. Something came up that demands your utmost attention."

Seth too became serious, "And what would that be?"

Miranda went over to the couch and sat in it while motioning to Seth to sit in the other one on the other side of the table in front of her. The young man obliged as he went over to the other couch and sit in it.

"It's supposed to be big." Miranda began as she took out a folder and tossed it across to Seth, who caught it easily, "The client's an unknown but he's offering a huge reward for this job. It's a simple locating mission and with what he's offering it's got to be important."

"How much are we talking about?" Seth asked.

"Billions of credits. Look in the folder and see for yourself." Natalia informed.

"That's a lot of money." Seth opened the folder and looked at the pictures and Intel about the target and had a confused expression. "The Paksis Pragma? The client wants me to find some energy source?"

"Yes he does. All I've been able to find out is that it's apparently a very powerful energy source." Miranda stated, "Fortunately I've nailed down where it is located but there's a problem...it's in the Gemini System."

"Where those two moronic planets are; _Tarak _and _Mejere_." Seth said with venom.

It was no secret that many planets had no love for Tarak and Mejere, especially Gradius. The two planets had been at war with each other due to their sexist views of each other. Many planets had seen them as bigotry filled dumb asses that fail to realize that they are from the same race known as human beings. Too bad those two didn't. And that's before mentioning the bad blood between Gradius and Mejere.

"Yes and unfortunately enough it's in Tarak of all places." Miranda said.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I have a very good source there that confirmed it. The question is…will you take the job? I know that you'd rather not be caught dead on that planet or Mejere."

Seth stayed quiet for a moment and he didn't take long to think about the job.

"I will take the job, make sure to let the client know that." He said sternly as he put down the folder, "And the split will be 50-50 since you managed to pinpoint the location. I'll handle the rest and maybe even get it for our client."

"You sure about that?" Miranda asked in concern.

"Yes, I'm sure. In fact I'll be going now." Seth said and got up from the couch and made his way for the door.

"Wait! Before you go there's something else you should know." Miranda said.

"What is it?" Seth asked.

"It's Gradius. They've raised your bounty to over a hundred billion. Not only that, they've created a task force to bring you in." Miranda informed him, "It consists of Naomi, Cecilia and one other unnamed person."

"Really? And I'm supposed to care?! Because as far as I'm concerned I see no reason to be bothered." Seth blankly responded, _'Not like it should be surprising considering that most of the fuckers back there are mad that they've been unable to get rid of me ever since I left.' _"No matter. I'll cross that bridge when it happens. I'm off. Anything else?"

"Yes, be sure to meet up with my contact there. I've told him what you look like and he'll be expecting you and able to set you up on Tarak. Also be careful. For some reason I have a very bad feeling about this mission. The client obviously hasn't been so frank with their request, so watch yourself out there...Please." Miranda said with worry.

"I know that and thanks for the warning Miranda. I'll look for whatever the client wants. Keep me posted if something comes up." Seth said. As he was about to leave he remembered something else. "Oh another thing. Any sightings of that piece of dog shit?"

"None so far Seth. The bastard's very slippery, but I have a hunch that he'll be in the Gemini system." Miranda stated.

"I'll take that. Your hunches have turned out to be right in the past concerning the bastard. Too bad he's as slippery as you said he is. Although this time I WILL find him and end him." With that said, Seth walked out of the office leaving a sighing Miranda behind.

_'That's not all I'm worried about…I know that you're still mad about what happened all those years ago Seth...but you need to let go...before it turns you into something monstrous. Just like how I almost ended up...'_

**...**

Getting into his ship, the Gradius fighter ship, Alpinia, Seth Reager looked on ahead into the void with a frown.

_'So Gradius decided to send those two after me? What are they expecting? Me to hesitate to kill them?' _Seth thought, _'It doesn't matter. What's done is done and I have no intention of looking back.' _

The Alpinia disembarked from the docks before zooming off into the void of space, off to handle his newest assignment.

…

It took Seth a few weeks to get to the Gemini System, and a few days to get to his destination which was Tarak. One of the two bigotry-filled planets, the other being Mejere.

It had been six months since the Gradian had arrived at the desert planet. He'd met Miranda's contact who was actually a Gradius Intelligence Operative who'd been posted there to keep tabs on the planet. Ever since Tarak attempted their BS with Gradius which nearly resulted in a losing war for the all-male planet Gradius had decided to keep tabs on them just in case the fools try another stupid stunt. So far Tarak has behaved. The contact had been able to help set Seth up as a Second Class Citizen and with a job as a security guard.

Seth had known a bit about Tarak from academy lectures and reports and he couldn't give an iota of a damn. Tarak was a world comprised entirely of men. A desert planet with barely any water down on the surface. Despite the harsh conditions, the men had been able to colonize this desert planet. Their society is divided into a caste system with three different classes.

The First Class Citizens are the upper class people who have high paying jobs, the best living conditions and health care and are held in the highest regard. The Second Class Citizens are the middle class people who have average to decent enough conditions, not too bad and not too good either. Then Third Class Citizens are the lowest class with the poorest conditions and are treated like dirt but they are also the hardest working group. While the men of Tarak are impressive to be able to live and thrive on this harsh planet for three generations, they seemed to be more bothered with their military than anything else and they have a very disturbing bias against women calling them monsters who enslave men and eat their innards and the Tarak men are currently at war with them.

Absolute bullshit!

The Mejerians were no better but Seth didn't want to even go there as they were just as bad, if not worse than their male counterparts, plus it would bring back memories he wants to stay forgotten.

For the past few months on Tarak, Seth had been doing his best to stay as sane as possible considering how jaded he already is. He had been living on his personal rations instead of the disgusting food pills the men eat. He tried it once and nearly went on a killing spree. Then there was the issue of avoiding men who wanted to have a kid with him! Hell to the fucking no!

There was some good side to it. Thanks to Miranda's insider he was able to find out about Tarak's new weapon, the Vanguards, giant human shaped war machines that the men prided on making for their war with the women in the future when they would one day take the battle with them in space. The Vanguards were also armed with the ability to carry various weapons, and have strong armor, could operate in both the surface of worlds and in deep space, could take utility and military roles with ease. They were impressive even to the Gradian, but they were not that impressive compared to the things and beings he had seen and battled in his career as a Gradius pilot and as a mercenary.

Also Seth had been able to locate the Paksis, finding out that it was inside the vessel known as the Ikazuchi, which was an Old Colonization ship that had left Earth many years ago. He had also gotten word that the Ikazuchi was already going to be taking off in three days, which is also when he'd decided to get photographic proof of the Paksis and maybe leave with the item itself.

However Seth had been secretly informed by Miranda that female pirates from Mejere had gotten wind of the men's operation, and were all getting ready to make their move on the Ikazuchi, hoping for a good haul in their latest raid on the men. Seth thanked her for the warning and told her that by the time they'd show up he'd be long gone. Unfortunately he had no idea how wrong he'd be about that.

* * *

**Chapter 1 End.**


	2. Male meets Female

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius.**

**Chapter II: Male meets Female**

* * *

Sneaking into the Ikazuchi wasn't difficult for Seth. Miranda's contact had given him the codes to enter the ship on D-Day which the Gradian used to get into the ship. The same contact had also helped to smuggle the Alpinia into the Ikazuchi which Seth was grateful for. Unfortunately in the act of sneaking into the ship Seth had unknowingly given another person the chance to also get inside.

Inside all Seth had to do was locate the Peksis and take photographic proof of it and also smuggle it out of the Ikazuchi. It sounded simple but from experience Seth knew that nothing was ever simple. Soon the Ikazuchi had taken off and had arrived in space accompanied by the cheers of the other Tarakans already on board. The Gradian also knew that the Prime Minister wanted to exhibit their Vanguards here and test them out. Not a problem for Seth as this made it much easier for him to achieve his objective.

As he was walking down a dimly lit corridor Seth barely heard a pompous Tarakan bureaucrat giving his speech.

"The power it holds will help rebuild the future of our great Empire! The ship that led us to this fatherland, the Ikazuchi has been revived! And our young men have boarded this ship as its new officers. YOU are the future of Tarak! There is no force in this universe that we need fear with our manly strength!"

Seth mentally scoffed at that. _'Oh please you arrogant twat! Like you haven't forgotten about the ass kicking Gradius gave you fools__.__ It's only because of your leader's quick thinking that you guys are still around.'_

Like Mejere, Tarak were not on good terms with Gradius due to their sexist bigotry but the grudge wasn't as bad as the women's planet. After Gradius' event with that planet, Tarak forces had tried attacking some Gradius colonies on the orders of the last Tarak Prime Minister because they had men and women existing together even though his leader told him not to do so. The fool ignored the warnings and went on with such attacks only for those forces to be ruthlessly destroyed and getting the ire of Gradius. The only reason they didn't get their asses handed to them like Mejere was because Tarak's leader was able to use diplomacy to placate Gradius and spare his planet their wrath. After that he had that foolish prime minister executed before a new one was chosen and warned to not repeat the same thing. Gradius backed off but warned Tarak to not try such crap again or there'll be hell to pay.

Right now Seth had a feeling that this fool would try to continue what that last fucker started and with these Vanguards. Speaking of those mechs Seth also noticed that he was walking past a row of the very same mechs, and now got to see them from up close this time instead of just through pictures. Still they were not important to him as he had a mission to complete so he ignored everything else the fucker was saying and moved on.

Suddenly Seth felt the entire room move and saw the lights coming on. He wondered just what was going on and when he realized that the room was being lifted up, he knew that it wasn't good. Seth had to keep his balance as he nearly fell due to the erratic shaking. Not only that Seth though he faintly heard someone gasp in surprise. Then the wall before him parted and he found himself looking at a large number of Tarak graduates and an irate Prime Minister.

Seth noticed that he wasn't the only one they were looking at and he looked to his right and saw a young blue feral haired boy, who looked to be at least sixteen, clutching onto a Vanguard. The boy choked out a nervous laugh at the crowd as they looked at both him and the boy with surprise and confusion.

'_Oh you've got to be kidding me.' _Seth mentally groaned.

…

"Look!"

"Those are Second and Third Class Citizens!"

"How did they get into the Ikazuchi?"

One of the cadets, a raven haired individual was not convinced that the taller male was a Second Class citizen or even from Tarak at all. Even though he had an ID that showed that he was of the Second Class he was wearing a black flight suit that only fighter pilots wore and it also doubled as body armor. Even with a modest income there was no way someone like that man could afford that. Not only that the man looked more like a soldier than a normal civilian as he was armed with a pistol and what looked like a kukri which were holstered.

"What are you doing?! Get them!" The Prime Minister shouted angrily.

'_This is gonna suck.' _Seth deadpanned as he saw a three guards go towards him and another three towards the boy who was frantically trying to get away.

'_However if they think they can handle me easily then they're in for a nasty surprise.' _And was he right about that as the first guard came at him with a wide hook. Seth easily stepped back to avoid the sloppy attack and countered with a straight punch that knocked the guard out cold. The second guard came with his own punch which Seth caught before twisting the arm around to the guard's back and then kicking the third guard in the face. Seth then spun the guard in his hold around and kneed him in the head also shutting out his lights. He then ran at the third guard, grabbed his arm and shattered the elbow with his own, causing the victim to scream in agony before silencing him with a haymaker to the jaw.

Seth turned and spotted two guards dragging away the Tarak boy while the other guard seeing what he'd done to his comrades charging at him. Seth just knocked him out with a spinning back kick counter to the face, watching as the guard face planted comically. He looked up to see the crowd of cadets and Prime Minister shocked at his handiwork before the irate leader called for more guards to show up and they did, only this time they were armed with assault rifles. Not wanting to waste any more time Seth took out a flash bang and threw it at them. As the flash bang went off blinding everyone else, Seth quickly disappeared from the area. By the time everyone else had recovered he was long gone.

…

After getting away from that mess, Seth re-materialized in a hallway. That was one hell of a setback he didn't expect and thanks to that his mission just got more complicated, and he doubts that the asshole of a Prime Minister would let that go.

"_ATTENTION TO ALL SECURITY PERSONNEL! THIS IS THE PRIME MINISTER SPEAKING! I WANT EVERY SECTION OF THE SHIP SEARCHED FROM TOP TO BOTTOM! FIND THAT SECOND CLASS BASTARD AND MAKE SURE TO TIE HIM FROM HEAD TO FOOT AND THEN BRING HIM TO ME ALIVE SO I CAN KILL HIM MYSELF WITH MY BARE HANDS!"_

'_And like that the cookie crumbled.' _Seth sweat dropped after hearing that ship wide announcement. He soon heard footsteps and knew that the manhunt had begun. _'Better find that damn thing and make myself scarce.' _He then began running the opposite way to lose his pursuers and find his target. Suddenly the ship was rocked by a series of explosions and soon sirens began blaring all over the place. Seth came to a complete stop and curse immediately as he knew who was attacking the male fleet.

'Damn! Looks like the women have begun their raid already! Better move fast and be done with this!'

Seth wasted no time drawing his custom Glock 17 pistol and kukri before de-materializing again.

…

The Tarak fleet was currently engaging a group of Mejerian dreads piloted by Mejerian pirates in a one sided fight that the women were clearly winning.

The dreads were the Mejerian women's space fighters that were designed for space combat with lasers and missiles for fast and brutal attacks, though they had nothing on the adaptable space fighters of Gradius.

The pirates easily dodged the incoming fire from the AA guns and the kinetic and laser fire from the slow and blocky Tarak ships and countered with their own firepower on the Tarak ships, taking down a few escort ships in the process. The Dreads continued to bombard the flagship while the men aboard were still in a state of panic. The various laser turrets and AA guns had little to no accuracy as the Dreads easily weaved through the AA fire.

Soon the humanoid mechs known as the Vanguards began flying out of the hangar of the Ikazuchi into space to join the ongoing battle raging on. Unfortunately the pilots of those mechs were nothing but mere rookies sent into battle with their sloppy piloting skills. The Dreads either shot down or ignored the green as grass rookie Vanguard pilots who could do little to stop the Dreads. Funny enough, a few managed to latch onto some of the Dreads as they passed by, one of them being a red Dread.

"Hey, what are these things?! They're getting in my way!" The red Dread pilot shouted as she spotted several Vanguards pounding their fists on the canopy of her Dread.

"Ignore the Vanguards. Concentrate on the enemy flagship." The pilot of a silver Dread ordered in a cool tone as she kept her focus and calm.

"Roger!"

Two of the Dreads accompanied their leader's Dread as they made a strafing run at the Tarak flagship.

From a nearby window Seth watched in amusement as the Mejerians continued making fools out of the Tarak men. The Vanguard pilots especially were so pathetic that it was laughable, but he couldn't blame them, those were green as grass rookies fighting out there. If this was against a Gradius strike team or even a lone pilot this would have been a glorified shooting gallery. As much as the Gradian was enjoying this he knew better than to stay here as he needed to finish his mission and get out before he got too caught up in the conflict. Still this commotion was useful as it'll make it easier for him to move around the ship unhindered.

Soon he saw the pirates blow a hole in the hull of the ship and a boarding craft soon followed. The on-board security were caught off guard by the boarding party but they managed to fight back against the pirates. Seth wasted no time avoiding the firefights and continuing his way to his objective.

**...**

Hibiki Tokai thought his day couldn't get any worse. He'd accepted a stupid bet from one his of fellow Third Class Citizens to steal one of the Vanguards and bring it down to Tarak to show to them. He'd managed to sneak in and find the Vanguard he planned on stealing. Unfortunately he did not expect to end up in space when the flagship took off and worse he got caught by the security on the ship when he was discovered during the ceremony.

Now he's locked up in the brig awaiting execution, getting zapped by a white egg-shaped security robot and feeling worthless for failing to prove his existence, but he was also deep in thought about that Second Class Citizen that was also discovered with him. The man had clothing and gear that a person of that status couldn't have and he even looked very healthy and very fit too, not to mention strong as he saw the man ruthlessly take down four guards with his bare hands. In fact there was no way in hell that the guy was a Second Class Citizen.

Suddenly his luck started to look up. The shaking of the ship had smashed the annoying white robot into the electric field and shut it up as it slipped into his cell. With quick thinking he pulled two chords from the robot, and plugged them into the small outlet in his cell, shutting off the laser bars. Before he ran off, he heard beeping from the robot and glanced at it. He hesitated and then quickly grabbed the small robot and his bag containing his possessions and rushed out of the room.

…

Seth pressed himself against the wall as he neared one of the entrances to engineering where the reactor room with the Paksis was located. Peaking in, he saw that the room was completely empty, since the men have to deal with their female 'guests'.

'_Looks like things are looking up for me.' _Seth thought as he moved into the room and made his way towards the core room, _'As much as I despise those Mejerians they sure serve as a good distraction.'_

Soon after entering Seth's jaw dropped to the floor at the sight of what he saw. Directly in front of him was the very Paksis that he'd been looking for and it was HUGE. He quickly recovered his wits and holstered his weapons before bringing out his digital camera.

_'This is the Paksis the client wanted me to find? There's no way in hell I'll be able to take that with me! But I can have the photographic proof that they wanted and give them the location.' _

As Seth begun taking pictures, he felt a foreign presence tugging at the edges of his mind and falling into a trance. He quickly shook himself out of it.

_'What the hell was that?!'_ Seth thought in surprise as he directed his attention back at the Paksis. '_Was someone…calling out to me? Nah! No way, I must be imagining things! Either way I can't waste time here once I get some pictures I'll place the tracking beacon on the Paksis for the client__.__'_

After he was done with the pictures, Seth put away his camera and made his way down a set of stairs to the bottom of the reactor room. He soon arrived at the bottom and ran to the base of the Paksis Core. He went down one knee and carefully placed the beacon in an inconspicuous area of it. Once done Seth got up and dusted his hands.

_'__And with that__,__ I'm done here. Time to make myself scarce.'_

Seth then ran to the nearest door and left the room.

**...**

Hibiki was sprinting in a random direction while carrying the robot, passing several officers who didn't seem to notice the escapee due to all the pandemonium. He soon arrived at the reactor room and was moving across the sky walk. Just then, he heard a loud noise and glanced up at the heated up wall. It then exploded, taking the catwalk from under him before yelling as he fell and blacked out soon after.

**At the same time…**

Seth was rushing across the catwalk when he saw an expanding bulkhead with heat surrounding it, which meant only one thing…

"Oh shit!"

Just as he made a sharp 180 turn the bulkhead exploded with the powerful force of the blast sending him flying into the far wall…hard.

"Ow…" Seth said comically before sliding off the wall and smacking the floor…hard…again. "Double ow…"

Just before everything went black Seth saw a large object plow through the wall followed by a scream.

**...**

In the bridge of the Tarak flagship, the Tarak Prime Minister reached for an emergency switch on the control panel that had just come up.

"Sir, you can't be serious!" The bridge operator protested.

"We can't afford to let this entire ship fall into the hands of those pirates! I must at least save the new sections of the ship! To do that I will separate the old from the new!" The Prime Minister replied.

And with that he throws the switch forward causing emergency bulkheads to engage as the old section separates from the new section of the Tarak flagship.

Panic soon ensued as the crew on the old section watched in horror as they're abandoned by their leaders. The raven haired cadet only narrowed his eyes in disappointment of such action.

**...**

Regaining consciousness, Hibiki shook his head as he tried to recover his bearings and he reached forward to try and move whatever it was that was on top of him. However, his hands then touched something soft, firm, and squishy. As soon as that registered in his brain, Hibiki opened his eyes further and found himself looking at a very scary face. He panicked and pushed the being off him afraid that he had just met a woman.

"M-M-M-Monster!"

"Please wait!" The so called monster said. Something in the voice made Hibiki stop and turn around and saw the scary individual reach for its face and then took it off to reveal yet another face, and this one was different. Very different.

The woman in question took off her mask and shook her long mane of red hair free, along with small jewel that she wore as a pendant, and the golden tiara on her head. She finally got off a portion of her space suit and smiled warmly as she looked at Hibiki, her deep blue eyes sparkling in joy as she took a good long look at her very first man.

"Wow! A real live alien!"

"Alien?!" Hibiki said as he looked on, still very tense as the redhead inched closer towards him and then placed on her hands forward, which were bare of the gloves of her space suit and began to move hands in certain waving motions. The Tarak youth wondered what was going on and then began to follow the very same actions that the young woman had done. When he did so perfectly, the bubbly redhead cheered.

"I did it! I really did it! I've made first contact!"

Hibiki had seen enough and decided to get the hell out of the area as fast as he could. He laughed weakly as he grabbed his bag and grabbed the robot and ran.

"Bye!"

The redhead however was dismayed as she tried to get out of her space suit and revealed herself to be wearing a short long sleeved jacket, a tank top, a short skirt that resembled a mini-skirt and short boots. She then reached for her suit to get her camera as she called out to Hibiki.

"Wait! Let me take a picture!"

Unknown to either of them, the Paksis began to glow as if it sensed their presence.

Not far away Seth had regained consciousness, shaking the cobwebs out of his head and regaining his bearings. His felt sore all over, no doubt thanks to when his face was introduced to the wall and then gravity reunited him back with the floor but even with that he was okay.

"Alright…that's gonna sting for a while." He groaned as he slowly got up to his feet. He was thankful for the training back at the Gradius Academy and Miranda's torturous boot camp which made his body very durable or else he'd still be on the floor. Finally standing up, he checked to ensure that his gear was on him and sighed in relief that his camera was still intact, albeit with a small crack but still usable. He looked around and saw the damage thanks to whatever caused the explosion earlier and it had taken the catwalk too. However it also opened another way out for him to the unused hangar where the Alpinia was.

"I'll take what I can get. I don't need anymore surprises!" Seth said as he slowly broke into a sprint and made his way towards his fighter and hopefully off this death trap of a ship.

**...**

Back on the other half of the Tarakan Flagship, bridge officers were monitoring the pirate's main ship as it flew towards the older half of the Ikazuchi they ejected on the radar and also noticed the escape pods being launched.

"The Mejere ship is heading for the old section."

"Those females move fast don't they?" remarked The Prime Minister, "Prepare to fire the Muramasa!"

"Minister are you actually going to destroy the old section?!" The commander protested in shock.

"I'd rather destroy it with my own hands then let it fall into the hands of women!" The Prime Minister replied in anger.

**...**

"You don't know when to give up!" Hibiki said through gritted teeth as he kept running from the redhead, while he held the robot in hand.

The redhead had brought the camera to her face and snapped a couple shots at Hibiki's retreating back as she ran.

"Hey, Mr. Alien! Why are you running away? We're really a peaceful race! Honestly!"

"Not only are women are the scariest things I've ever seen, but they don't make any sense either!" Hibiki said to himself as he kept running. Turning a corner something bumped into him, sending him falling to the ground with a grunt.

…

Seth had been running down the corridor that led to the hangar when he suddenly bumped into something and causing whatever it was falling to the ground with a grunt, letting him know that he ran into someone. He drew out his sidearm and looked down while bringing his weapon to bear on what was in front of him only to see it was the same young boy that had been spotted with him at that ceremony on the ship. Somehow he'd escaped during the pandemonium. Beside him was a white egg-shaped robot that seemed to be shorted out.

"Ow! Huh?" Hibiki looked up then stared in surprise at the taller man in front of him. It was that same one that had also been spotted with him earlier and had taken down four First Class guards with ease. He was armed with a pistol which was currently lowered at his side.

"It's you!" Hibiki exclaimed as he pointed at the Gradian.

"Nice to see you again kid." Seth sarcastically greeted back, "Why the hell are you in such a rush?!"

"I'm running away from that monster! You should do the same before she shows up!" Hibiki advised.

_'She?' _Seth thought before he realized what the boy meant. "You mean a woman?"

"Yes I meant that! Now c'mon we got to move before they catch us!" Hibiki said quickly as he got up and picked up the robot and his belongings. Then he heard rapid footsteps approaching and tried to run but Seth held him by the back of his shirt. "Hey what are you doing?! Let me go!" Hibiki begged hysterically as he tried to break Seth's grip on him.

"And where do you intend to run to?" Seth deadpanned.

Before the boy could reply a feminine voice made itself known.

"WOW! ANOTHER ALIEN!"

Seth and Hibiki turned and spotted a young red haired teenage girl with a camera. She appeared to be as old as Hibiki but much taller than the boy. She had deep blue eyes, light creamy skin and looked cute. She wore a black crop top, a white jacket, both of which left her belly exposed, and a white skirt that had black and pink patterns around the shoulders, sleeves, and waist along with heeled shoes of similar design. She also wore a tiara on top of her head.

Both blinked a bit as the girl took pictures of them. Then Seth looked at Hibiki with a deadpanned expression.

"Are you serious?! She's the reason you're getting so worked up?!" he asked incredulously. _'But I'll admit that she's cute and even though she's a Mejerian she definitely doesn't have their bigotry and is too innocent.'_ Then his mind backed up a bit as he registered what she said. _'Wait! What! Another alien?!'_

"DITA!"

It was then two other women arrived on the scene. The first one a young woman around the age of 19 who stood at approximately 5'6" with a well-defined athletic body, short light blue hair and aqua blue eyes. She wore a form-fitting black and white body suit that also showed off her figure even more and a strange metal circlet around her left eye. The moment she saw Seth and Hibiki she pointed a ring at him? Really?!

Beside her was an older and very attractive blonde woman who looked to be around the age of 20, standing at 5'9, had deep emerald green eyes, along with a well formed and endowed figure that would have made many women back on Gradius jealous, and any red blooded male going nuts like wolves and Seth was close to doing that if not for his mental discipline. Her choice of clothing didn't help either as she was wearing an exotic dress that had her front exposed up to her belly button which exposed her front well, with only two flaps of the soft and comfortable material covering her more than ample breasts and those were held by a ring on the collar of the outfit. There were also slits on the lower dress, reaching up to her hips, revealing her long legs and her feet were covered in soft boots at ankle length. Her arms were bare but she wore special sleeves that were held to her arms by brown straps of soft and comfortable leather. She was also armed with a rapier.

'_Just great…more of them and unlike this girl__,__ these ones are obviously the bigoted types.' _Seth mentally groaned.

"AAAAAHHHHH! MORE WOMEN! WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" Hibiki screamed as he frantically struggled to escape out of Seth's grip so he could get away. Seth just rolled his eyes at the boy's antics. A discreet beep from the tac-pad on his hand got his attention and he discreetly looked at it and saw the message.

'_The insane Prime Minister's about to fire a pair of torpedoes at the old section. Get the hell out already! Consider this my last message.' _The message was from the undercover contact which got Seth's attention and a further sense of urgency to get the hell out.

The two older women looked at the taller man that had the struggling male in his grasp. Unlike the boy and other men who had been freaked out by their presence this man stood his ground and showed no fear. In fact he didn't seem to even register them at all.

On the contrary Seth did notice them but just wanted to be out of here already. He was running out of time and he needed to get out of here and complete his mission, plus he didn't want to be around these people from two sexist planets. He dropped Hibiki to the floor and turned to leave.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!" The woman with blue hair warned him. Seth looked over his shoulder and glared while pointing his pistol at her.

"Do that and I won't hesitate to defend myself unlike those morons that cowered in fear of you." Seth countered.

Meia and Jura were caught off guard by his glare. Instead of being scared of them like the other men on the ship, he was standing his ground and was more than prepared to fight them if they attacked. Dita looked at Seth with curiosity as she wanted to see what he'll do next and Hibiki looked at Seth as if he was insane for not getting away. He watched this small standoff for a while before he decided that he had to get out of this ship.

"I'm getting out of here!" Hibiki yelled as he grabbed the robot and his belongings, then ran up to the debris pile and began to climb it.

"I agree with him and you three should do the same." Seth said before turning around and bolted out of the room the way he came in.

"Mr. Aliens, wait! Please!" Dita cried. She went after Hibiki since it was clear that he was easier to chase than Seth. However, Meia saw what she was doing and quickly went after her.

"Dita!"

She then tackled Dita on top of some of the junk and looked angrily at her.

"Meia!" Dita said nervously as she looked at her superior officer.

"What are you doing?! You know better than to separate from the rest of the team!" Meia reprimanded.

"I'm sorry Meia." Dita apologized with a somewhat hurt expression.

…

The two large missiles known as The Muramasa had been launched from the top half of the Tarak flagship towards the other half that the Mejerian pirate ship had docked on. Of course the crew had already gotten into their ship and they had tried to stop the missiles but The Muramasa was undaunted by their attacks as it continued towards their target.

_"Meia, where are you?" _asked a woman who was of a higher rank in the crew.

"All members are accounted for. We're leaving now on the Dreads." Meia reported back on her communicator as she and her subordinates ran towards their respective fighters.

Seth arrived at the hangar where the Alpinia had been secretly kept and he wasted no time getting in and starting up the systems. A missile warning came on the HUD that showed two missiles flying towards the ship.

"Shit!" The Gradian swore as he wasted no time taking off and flying out of the ship.

Hibiki soon spots the machine he was looking for and entered it. When he got in his seat and the cockpit closed he grinned in triumph.

"Alright partner, let's get out of this place!" he said excitedly before pausing and looking at the controls. Then his eyes widen as he realized that he had no idea how to activate the Vanguard.

"Uh, how's this thing supposed to move?" Hibiki asked in a confused tone.

On the pirates' ship the crew looked kept track of the rapidly approaching missiles.

"Twenty-five seconds till impact. We can't avoid a direct hit." informed a bridge operator.

"Hit or miss, either way it's our destiny." An aged woman who was the captain said as she looked at the screen.

Two Dreads lifted off and spun around to face the hangar's exit when Meia realized that Dita hadn't shown up.

"Dita!" she called out.

Dita's Dread was still embedded in the wall and the thrusters were not strong enough to free her.

"My Dread is stuck and I can't get out!" she shouted in a desperate tone. Her observation was spot on. With the walls blasted areas and edges, the Dread as effectively trapped as part of its front was wedged tightly against the sides of the bulkhead.

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

Hibiki continued to struggle as he tried to move his Vanguard.

"Come on! Move dammit!" he demanded as he yanked a lever.

**...**

Seth heard Dita's cry for help and he looked back before surprising himself as he spun the Alpinia around flew back to help her despite the huge risk.

_'I hope I don't regret this.' _Seth sighed.

Reaching the girl's position, Seth carefully aimed the Alpinia's twin lasers at the bulkheads holding the blue Dread, then fired precise, controlled bursts.

In her cockpit, Dita gasped at the power of the alien's fighter. She smiled gratefully as the second alien freed her from her predicament.

"Wow! You're really cool! Thank You Mr. Other Alien!" she called out to him.

Seth was surprised at her gratitude as he didn't expect that from a Mejerian of all people. A small genuine smirk came on his face as he once more spun the Alpinia around.

"You're...welcome." Seth replied to her and then gunned for the exit.

**...**

"Dita!" Meia shouted, determined not to lose her team member.

"We can't wait any longer!" Jura yelled.

"Meia! Jura! I'm here!" Dita said as she caught up with her comrades.

Meia and Jura breathed a sigh of relief as they saw Dita's dread move back out of the hole it was stuck in. Since they were on the other side, they didn't see how her ship had gotten loose from its bonds.

"Thank goodness!" Jura sighed in relief.

"We're leaving now!" Meia said.

"Roger!" both Jura and Dita replied.

They had just started to make their escape when they realized that had run out of time.

**…**

"Move it!" Hibiki yelled as he kept trying to pilot the Vanguard.

**…**

"I made it out!" Seth said in relief after getting out but looked up to see that he was a little too late to get out of the blast radius. _'Crap! Crap! Crap!'_

**...**

The two missiles impacted with the old section of the flag ship, causing a massive explosion and shockwave followed by a wormhole that comes out of nowhere, pulling the two ships and the lone space fighter into it before it vanished, and leaving nothing in its wake.

**...**

"We're no longer detecting any reading sir!" an officer reported.

The Prime Minister sighed in relief.

"I hope you women enjoyed the taste of defeat." he declared coldly.

**...**

Seth found himself falling in a strange, aqua green sea of light. He looked around and wondered what the hell was going on since it didn't look like heaven or hell in anyways. As he fell, he became aware that there were four others with him, the same boy and three women he met earlier in that ship. Seth began seeing multiple images, especially one that resembled a large and majestic looking mech. Then he heard the voice of the one called Dita shout out, "MR ALIENS!"

Then he started hearing the others screaming, including himself, as they rapidly fell through the light into darkness.

* * *

**Chapter II End.**


	3. Just my luck

**Vandread Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. **

**CHAPTER III: Just my luck…**

* * *

A massive portal opened and out came the Mejere pirate ship and the old section of the Ikazuchi. Both ships seemed to still be intact as they were somehow undamaged by the explosion of the Muramasa. The ships also seemed to be out of power and there was no activity in any of them. On the bridge of the pirate ship, the crew members groaned as they started to regain consciousness and tried to recover their bearings.

"Ugh….this certainly isn't the afterlife...what happened and where are we?" The elderly leader of this pirate crew demanded.

"Just a moment captain…" A blonde bridge operator began, "The systems seem to be…"

WHAM!

The blonde had no time to finish her report as the ship was shaken by a strong force from something massive. Everyone looked up and gasped in shock as they saw their ship being covered by a massive amount of crystal.

"What the hell?! Is that crystal trying to consume our ship?!" The captain said in shock.

**...**

In the reactor room, the entire place was already filled with crystals from top to bottom and the floor was as well, and things seemed to be quiet. It also seemed that were people in there as well.

Seth once again woke up from unconsciousness, grumbling at the fact that he took another unneeded nap and checked himself. He had no injuries so far and there was a crack in his helmet, most likely from cushioning his head during the chaos, and there were a few rips and tears on his trench coat and his flight suit was still okay. However his communicator was thrashed so no way to contact Miranda, but he didn't let that bother him.

"At least I'm fine." Seth said to himself, "For now that is. Now where am I?"

Looking around the room he saw the crystalline state it was and had a deadpanned expression.

"Looks like someone had a bad idea for renovations." Seth deadpanned. He spotted the Alpinia encased in a crystal cocoon. "Okay…Looks like I'm not going anywhere anytime soon…Just my luck…Might as well figure out where I am."

**…**

In another part of the same room, the aqua blue-haired Dread pilot leader, Meia Gisborn, woke up and looked around for her comrades. She then spotted her blonde comrade Jura beginning to wake up.

"Jura! Are you all right?"

"I think so…" Jura groaned, "…I don't feel any different."

Meia sighed in relief and shook her head a bit to regain her bearings. It was also then that she recalled that someone was missing.

"Dita!"

"Hi! I'm over here!"

Meia looked in the direction of the upbeat voice and sighed in relief as she spotted her excitable redhead subordinate alive and waving at her and Jura.

"Something went beep and then VROOOMMM! And I don't what happened then! Alien powers are SO amazing!" Dita mumbled excitably.

Satisfied that her team is safe Meia got up and surveyed the scene around her.

"Where are we?" Jura asked, "The last thing I remember, we were on the men's ship about to leave. And then a light swallowed us and..."

"We were falling...Us and two other men." Meia finished.

"Two other men?" Jura asked in surprise, "Are you sure about what you saw?"

"Yes I'm sure of what I saw." Meia insisted. Soon she spotted the still unconscious Hibiki lying not far from them.

**...**

The elderly captain looked briefly at the transformation that the ship was going through for a moment before turning her attention to the view screen.

"Gascogne! Do you think you could detach us?" asked Magno.

A screen came on revealing a tan muscled woman with short green hair and brown eyes.

_"I can't do it with lasers. And if we don't hurry up, this place will get swallowed up too!" _Gascogne reported calmly with her hands to her hips.

A second screen then came on next to the first revealing a platinum haired woman with tanned skin.

_"The corrosion is starting to spread through the whole ship."_ she reported while on a communication device.

A third screen then came on showing a woman in mechanic's overalls.

_"The engine's down too so we can't move!"_ she reported with alarm.

The captain closed her eyes in thought.

"So we're going to have to get rid of it at the source…" she mumbled to herself. Then she opened her eyes. "I'm going up! B.C., Parfet come with me!" she ordered.

"Roger!"

The captain of the pirates, her first officer, and their chief engineer along with a well-armed group of their security team took a shuttle to the old section of the Ikazuchi and arrived at the crystallized reactor room. As soon as they came out of the shuttle, Meia and her team went to greet them.

"Amazing! I didn't think I'd see this of all things." The old captain said in awe.

"I'm sorry that you have to come all the way here Captain." Meia apologized.

The captain waved off her apology as she smiled at her Dread Squadron leader. "There's no need for you to apologize. I simply wanted to see this for myself."

The elderly woman then turned and spotted the unconscious Hibiki.

"This is the man that Dita was chasing when we looking for her." Meia reported.

"I see...It's been a while since I've last seen a man. Were their faces always this funny looking?" The captain said in amusement.

"Forgive me Captain, but there was also another man on the ship that we came across." Meia said.

"Another man?" The captain asked.

"Yes, but he was different from the others." Meia answered, "Very different?"

"How so?" BC asked.

"He wasn't afraid of us and was willing to fight back." Meia answered.

"So a brave one huh?" The captain asked. She turned to look at Hibiki and ordered the security team to take him to the brig.

From behind some debris Seth watched as the group of women with the young kid and the robot leave for the shuttle. Seeing the elderly woman leading them he now knew just who he was dealing with.

_'Great...Just my luck! It's the notorious Magno and the Mejerian pirates…This complicates things…' _he thought dryly.

**...**

Hibiki finally woke up with a start, bumping the top of his head against the bottom of the bed.

"OW!" he yelped, clutching his head in his hands, "Oh, man! Well it looks like I'm stuck behind bars again huh?"

"So you're finally awake." an unknown voice said.

"Who's there?!" Hibiki gasped. He turned to see the stranger reveal himself.

"My name is Duero McFile. And do you have a name as well Mr. Third class citizen?" Duero asked casually.

"Don't make fun of me! My name is Hibiki Tokai and I'm not just another third class citizen!" Hibiki snapped.

"You're the one who made the commotion during the ceremony right? How did you manage to sneak in anyway?" Duero asked with a slight smile of amusement. "And what about that other man that was on stage with you? Any idea where he is?"

Before Hibiki can give an answer the egg shaped robot he was carrying earlier reactivates. It stood up and looked around while scratching its head in confusion. "Hmmm? Where am I? Who am I?"

"You've changed a bit haven't you?" Hibiki stated with an exasperated look.

The machine looked at the young Tarakan with puzzlement. "Huh?"

**…**

As the two ships continued to merge, the pirate crew continued to work hard to stop the changes to their vessel, but had no luck in going so. Before long, every circuit, cable relay, and mechanism of their cruiser and the old colony ship were flooded with crystals.

A female crew member was staring up a hole that was filled with crystal.

"WOW! Miss Gasco, it looks like where connected on the inside too!" she said. Other female crew members were still trying to cut the crystals with lasers.

"Well that's just great! I had no idea that the Paksis had such incredible amounts of power and energy. And by the way, it's not Gasco it's GASCOGNE!" she shouted at the girl with an irritated glare and a raised fist, causing the unfortunate girl to cringe back with fear.

**...**

At the engineering section of the ship, Parfet and her crew of engineers were trying everything in their power to determine the extent of the damage, but had no idea where to start looking.

Parfet then looked at the console in front of her and examined the readouts it displayed.

"Just as I feared! They're linked down to the core!" she said.

"We have to do something!" said a member of her engineering team.

"Try and insert the Linestar Particle charges into the main cable right away! Just make it so we can control this thing!" she ordered.

**...**

"Paiway! Let us out of here now!" Barnette shouted as she pounded on the glass as she and four other girls were being doused in cold water in the decontamination chambers.

"We're freezing!" whined another girl as she shivered.

The unfortunate women were in their undergarments and facing the soon to become possibility that they would be in danger of catching pneumonia.

However, the young apprentice nurse didn't listen to her comrades, as she sat on her desk and shook her head. "Not until all the male germs are gone."

"Paiway!"

She then directed her attention at her trusty diary. "Even in times of crisis like this, the super cute idol star Paiway does not lose her cool…"

**...**

A security guard was making her rounds in the ship. And nothing else unusual was happening until she was grabbed from behind and pulled into a dark area in the ship and noticed a blade at her throat.

"Cooperate and you get out of this unscathed. Scream and I'll slit your throat understand?" A chilling male voice told her. She had no choice but to comply least she ends up dead.

"Where's your leader?" The male asked as he moved the blade a bit away from the guard's throat.

"Right now she's in the bridge. She intends to talk with the prisoners soon." The guard answered reluctantly.

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is! What do you plan on doing male?"

"I plan on talking to her of course, not assassinating her like you're most likely thinking."

"I find that hard to believe especially from a man."

"Well I don't have time to argue with a bigot like you anyways, so sweet dreams."

Before the guard could say anything her world turned black.

**...**

Back in the brig, Hibiki and the small robot were having a staring contest and the young Tarakan was easily losing to the robot.

"Want me to fix you or something?" Hibiki asked in irritation.

"Don't make fun of me! I'm not broken!" shouted the robot as he waved his arms angrily in the air.

"Well what do you want?!" Hibiki snapped back angrily.

Before anything else could be said, there was interruption in the form of footsteps and then the arrival of BC and two security guards.

"W-WOMEN! What are you planning on doing?!" Hibiki demanded hysterically.

BC just rolled her eyes at Hibiki's panic. "Calm down, this is the safest place for you right now."

Hibiki scoffed, "Sure you say that but…you want to eat my guts!"

The silvered haired woman blinked and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Eat your guts…?"

Then one of the security guards busted out laughing and held her hand to her mouth as she tried in vain to stop herself.

"H-He really believes that!" The second guard giggled.

"Before we have dinner I'd like to ask you three something, come with us." BC said with a smile while the two guards kept laughing their asses off.

The laser bars to the holding cell are deactivated and the guards escort Hibiki, Duero and the small robot to the interrogation room. Unknown to them they were followed by another figure.

Hibiki was staring at the breasts and the butt of the women and was about to touch one of the security personnel's posterior.

"What do they have in there anyway?" Hibiki whispered curiously as he moved closer.

He touched the young girl's rear and naturally the girl let a squeal before turning around with a flushed face and gave Hibiki a very unfriendly glare. She then lashed out and shouted.

"PERVERT!"

SLAP!

**...**

The three men soon arrived at the interrogation room and were directed to sit down.

"Oww…why in the heck did she do that?!" Hibiki complained as he sat down and tried to relieve the pain as he had a large hand print in red on his cheek. Behind them, the young girl that he had touched on the posterior was looking away with a look of absolute disgust on her face while her companions were looking at then men.

"A gentleman should never be rude to a lady." the robot said in a reprimanding tone.

"Hey, I don't even know what you're talking about!" Hibiki shouted.

Then everyone in the room noticed two more people entering the room. One of them being Meia and the other person being a blond man who had his hands behind his head.

"What's up? Did you find another one?" BC asked.

"Yes, he was trying to hide in a statue." Meia reported.

"H-Hey there comrades! Glad to see ya here!" The blonde guy said with a nervous laugh.

Suddenly the door opened and in came none other than the leader of the pirates herself who sat down and looked over the men that were before her, giving each a long studying look before sighing in disbelief.

"My goodness, I've heard you captured some prisoners but instead they're just kids." she said as she looked at them.

"Hey! Its interrogation time! I'll tell you everything!" The egg-shaped robot shrieked as it flew towards Magno and began hopping around her.

"Well now, how nostalgic! It's a Navi robot, and this one's still seems to function, eh?" The captain said with a smirk.

"I'm afraid that I don't follow." Duero asked curiously.

"Yeah, isn't this supposed to be a men's ship?" Hibiki asked.

"Yes and before that it was used for colonization." Magno answered, "This ship actually was once part of a colonial fleet of ships from the planet Earth to colonize other worlds. This happened long before your fathers were even born. However, your cowardly grandfathers stole this segment of the ship and fled into the dead of the night."

"They overhauled the old battleship and added residential areas to the ship." The robot added.

"And now we find ourselves back on this old ship. This is our business you know so we'll gladly take the ship. But the problem is what are we supposed to do with you guys?" Magno asked with a sly smile.

"We should get rid of them. Things are unstable enough and they are a security risk." Meia suggested.

"No need to be hasty! We'll carefully consider exactly how we want to cook these fellas up." Magno said with a lick of her lips.

Hibiki panicked and Bart nearly piss in his pants, while Duero remained calm.

"As a man, I just died inside with how pathetic you two are. Though it's not surprising considering the bullshit those fools in your government shove down your throats!" said an angry male voice, freaking out everyone in the room except the captain and Duero as they didn't see the person who spoke up. "But this, this takes the cake! And old lady just drop the cannibalistic remark you're not fooling anyone with it."

"Do you mind showing yourself whoever you are?" The captain calmly requested.

"I don't since I wanted to talk to you anyways Magno Vivian." The male voice responded making the women in the room even more guarded, "So as long as your crew doesn't try anything hostile."

"Alright you have my word that no one will be hostile to you. Now please reveal yourself." Magno said.

Like that a man materialized behind the chair the three Tarak men were sitting on startling them and even freaking the women out, and then Meia raised her laser ring at the man as she instantly recognized him.

"YOU Again!" she said.

"Well hello to you too...again." The man replied dryly.

"I take it that you two know each other?" Magno said.

"This is the other man I told you about." Meia replied.

"Oh. The brave one?" Magno inquired.

"Yes." Meia confirmed.

"Bravery has nothing to do with it." The man countered, "I was just prepared to defend myself that's all." Then he turned to Hibiki and slightly smirked at him. "Glad to see that you're okay kid. Even though you're from that planet of morons known as Tarak."

Bart and Hibiki looked at the man with confusion. Duero simply looked on in curiosity as he already recognized him. And Magno and the other women looked at him in surprise. Then Hibiki's eyes widened as he figured out who he was.

"Hey! It's you!"

"Glad you recognized me." Seth replied.

Magno cleared her throat to get the man's attention, "You two can get reacquainted later. Right now can you please tell us who you are and where you're from?"

"Since you asked nicely I'll happily comply. The name's Seth Reager and I'm from the planet Gradius." _'Actually formerly from there.'_

Magno's face turned neutral instantly, becoming tense while BC paled immediately. Bart's eyes widened in surprise, Duero looked thoughtful and everyone else just looked on at him in confusion.

"You are from Gradius? Well that's a surprise…aren't you a long way from home?" Magno said.

"I am but I'll have it no other way." Seth answered with a blank look.

"So that explains why you were able to defeat those guards back there in the ceremony. I had a feeling that you were not from Tarak to start with." Duero stated.

"At least there's a smart person from that desert rock of a bigoted planet." Seth said.

"Captain, do you know something about this man?" Meia asked.

"Him? No, but his planet Gradius I do know about. They are one of the most battle hardened people in the galaxy due to their many battles with many enemy oppositions. Their fighter pilots make the Dread pilots on Mejere look like rank amateurs and their best pilots are one-man squadrons in their own right." Magno explained, shocking everyone in the process, "Their space fighters especially the Vic Viper far surpass the Mejerian Dreads by far."

"What?! That's impossible!" Meia shouted in disbelief, "You mean to tell us that this man here is from a planet with fighters that far surpass our own?!"

"Yes I am and if he is from Gradius as he says he is then we're dealing with someone very dangerous in his own right." Magno stated, "Besides that's a history lesson for another time."

"Captain we should toss him off the ship! With what you've said he's clearly a threat!" Meia stated as she pointed her laser ring at him again.

"Once again your sexist attitude never ceases to amaze me." Seth commented dryly.

"Comments aside what were you doing on the ship before the battle began?" BC asked.

"I was on a mission and fortunately for me your attack on the men did assist me in getting my job done." Seth responded.

"Is that right? And what was your mission?" BC asked.

"That's classified." Seth bluntly replied, "But I can assure you that I'm done with it and it has nothing to do with you. Anyways enough about me. How about you deal with the other guys?"

Magno reluctantly agreed with Seth on that, still not happy about not getting any more details from him and she focused on the three Tarakan males.

**...**

In the garden Dita and a brown haired girl wearing a simple dress named Ezra looked at the constellations outside with a telescope.

"None of them matches!" Ezra groaned, "I just don't get it!"

"You don't get? It's an amazing thing to come across aliens!" Dita said as she looked out to the stars while they both stood in the garden with occasional blue crystals that jutted from the ground.

"You're right it is amazing. We thought the Paksis was just an energy source, but it restoring the whole ship!" the brunette observed as she continued looking through the telescope.

"And made it like new!" Dita sighed blissfully to herself with her eyes closed and a faraway expression on her face. "That means if I could get abducted…."

Then she noticed the brunette next to her sighing in disappointment.

"Ezra what's the matter? Don't you feel well?"

"Oh I'm fine Dita. I was just thinking about everyone."

Dita nodded and turned to look at the stars once more.

"I think about them too. All the people we had to leave behind at the base."

"I hope we can get back to them soon."

Dita then blinked and breathed out in excitement when she saw something in the distance.

"What is it Dita?" Ezra asked wondering what the red head was looking at.

"Hey look at that over there!" Dita exclaimed as she pointed to what she was seeing.

Ezra looked through her telescope. "Where?"

Then she noticed three dots on her telescopes scanner heading towards them. "What do you think they could be?"

Ezra was then taken aback when Dita suddenly jumped next to her with a glazed over, starry look on her face as several images came into her mind…concerning little green men and floating discs.

"Isn't it obvious Ezra? They're ALIENS!" Dita beamed excitedly.

**...**

Back in the interrogation room, Magno looked on at the men in front of her.

"So that man is the Gradian pilot and that young man with the long hair is a doctor. But what about the other one?" Magno asked while indicating Seth, Duero and Hibiki respectively.

"He's an attacker." Meia stated as she looked at Hibiki.

"What a minute! I'm not a-" Hibiki started to protest but was interrupted when the blonde man elbowed him in the gut, knocking the breath out of his lungs and making him double over.

Hibiki looked up from his seat and glared at the smug man. "Why you…!" he gasped.

"I happened to notice him climbing into a Vanguard." Meia continued.

"Oh?" Magno asked as eyed Hibiki curiously.

"W-Wait a second-!" Hibiki protested again but as before was interrupted, this time by the intercom.

_"There's something approaching us!"_ Ezra reported over the intercom.

"Is it male reinforcements?" B.C. asked.

_"Actually-"_

_"THEY'RE ALIENS!"_ Dita shouted excitedly.

At the very same time Dita mentioned that, the ship shuddered from the force of some form of impact.

_"They're attacking us!"_ Ezra cried with alarm.

_"THE ALIENS ARE UPON US!"_ Dita screamed.

"Danger! Danger!" shouted the panicked Navi robot as it ran around the room.

"What's going on now?" asked a shell-shocked Hibiki.

"Do you need someone to spell it out for you brat? We're under attack! That's what's going on!" Seth shouted.

"The Dreads are moving out!" Meia said calmly as she ran out of the room.

"Parfet! Can you get the ship to move?" BC asked through her communicator.

_"That's impossible, I can't control it at all! And the automatic defense system is barely functional!" _Parfet reported back.

...

Running down the corridor Meia pulled out her communicator as she made her way to her Dread.

"Barnette, where are you?" she asked.

_"Paiway locked us in the decontamination room with showers on and we can't get out!" _A distressed Barnette answered.

"Jura, what is your location?" Meia asked again.

_"I'm on my way towards the platform right now!" _Jura reported.

As soon as Jura, Meia and Dita arrived at the hangar, they suddenly stopped and gasped as they saw the changes made to their dreads.

"What is going on around here?" Jura asked in surprise, "Are these our Dreads?"

"Wow!" Dita gasped, as she looked awed at the sight of their Dreads.

Meia was also surprised at the sight too but then shook herself from her stupor. She then ran for her dread and didn't hesitate to board it. Jura and Dita also did the same and entered their ships, and as soon as they were onboard they checked the systems.

"Looks like the systems haven't changed much." Meia said, "How about you two?"

"I think I can fly this." Jura reported.

"They must have been powered up!" Dita responded with excitement ruling her voice, "This is so exciting!"

"Just don't do anything reckless! Alright!" Meia warned her team.

"Roger!" they both replied.

The three Dreads were soon out of the fused ship and got deep into the fight with the unknown enemy forces.

"Excuse me Mr. Aliens! We're really a peaceful race! Maybe we talk about what's bothering you!" Dita cried out as she managed to make her craft dodge the incoming stream of weapons fire from her pursuers.

"Dita! These are our enemies!" Jura scolded through the comm-link.

Meia noted that her fighter's response time was better than before as she managed to dodge the barrage of fire from more of the alien fighters as she downed two of the enemy. "The system's changed somewhat, but what are these things?"

"I'm not sure who the enemy is. They're definitely not men." Jura stated.

"That's obvious isn't it?! They're really BAD aliens!" Dita shouted with anger.

"Not the alien stuff again." Jura replied.

**...**

"BC take control of the bridge." Magno ordered.

"Gotcha!" BC acknowledged with a nod as she started to run out of the room.

Magno winced and BC stumbled to a stop as the ship shook after taking several more direct hits from their new enemies. Then a section of the wall in the interrogation chamber exploded behind them, and a scream tore through the room as debris from the collapsed wall had fallen on top of one the guards.

At this point, Duero decided to put his skills and knowledge as a physician to work. He got up, just as the second female guard tried to help her injured comrade who was trapped by the blown section of the wall.

"Are you okay? Don't worry I'll get you out of here!" she sobbed.

"No you mustn't move her!" Duero shouted.

She instantly pointed her laser-ring at him, but Duero held up his hands to a non-threatening gesture. Duero then spoke to the young crew member. "Don't worry, I'm a doctor. I just want to see if I can help her."

The girl lowered the ring, and as soon as that happened Duero began instructing her to help remove the debris from her injured comrade. Once that was done he went on to check for any broken bones and gave the signal that the injured female had no broken bones from the impact.

"Well now. It seems that you could use some assistance here." he said getting Magno and B.C.'s attention.

Seth and Magno gave suspicious looks to the smooth talking cadet.

The blonde nodded as he continued to explain. "Name's Bart and while the fact is that we are mutual enemies, right now we're going to need to make our survival a top priority. And well, you may wish to use my skills. You see…the truth is that I am actually a helmsman."

_'Liar! Liar! Pants on fire!' _Seth thought as he'd looked at the blonde and knew that there was no way in hell that he'd be a soldier not to mention helmsman.

"Oh? So you're a helmsman are you?" Magno asked, though clearly not convinced either.

"Warning! This guy is trying to pull something!" The Navi-bot said as it pointed a finger at Bart.

"You keep quiet now!" Magno commanded the little machine.

"Sorry!"

Magno then addressed Bart again, "Well then…what is it that you have to say?"

"Okay, I was thinking that we could call a cease-fire for now, maybe we can all find a way to help each other somehow." he explained as he approached the captain. "It would be smarter for us to gather our forces and get over this crisis together."

"Interesting…That's not a bad idea." the captain remarked.

Bart gave a nervous laugh and smiled, "I appreciate you listening to my advice. So, what do you say we shake on it?" he asked as he offered his hand to Magno.

Magno slapped away his hand with her cane and replied, "Now listen closely, I have no wish of getting chummy with you. You'll still be treated as a prisoner."

Bart nervously laughed again as he clutched his hand, "Whatever you say Madam!"

"I can't do anything here!" Duero yelled, "She's in critical condition! Take me to sickbay!" he demanded with urgency.

Magno walked forward and looked back at Bart. "Alright then you come to the bridge with me young man."

"What should I do with them, captain?" BC asked as she directed her gaze at Hibiki and Seth, with the former cowering in a corner on his knees with his hands over his head and the latter just standing where he was.

"Take them down to the warehouse." Magno ordered.

**...**

Seth and Hibiki stood in an unused area, both handcuffed as a guard kept watch over them from behind while B.C. examined a tear in the wall near the brig.

"This isn't good. If we can't get the ship to stabilize, we might be in for a terrible situation if the men attack again." BC said as she moved away from the breach.

"Well the men are the least of your worries especially if your new friends outside have anything to say about it." Seth stated dryly.

B.C. looked at him, "You're not worried about what's going on right? You do realize that if we lose this battle, we lose our lives here too."

Seth narrowed his eyes at BC, "No need to beat around the bush. Just get to the point!"

"Your fellow men are risking their lives to help battle the enemy. Why don't you can go out there and help as well?" BC asked.

"And why the hell should I help you?" Seth countered, "I thought you Mejerians hated men to begin with and now you're asking a man to help you? Are you joking?!"

"No I'm not. Everyone, man or woman, must make choices in their lives and live with the consequences of the decisions that they make." BC said.

"Cause and Effect huh?" Seth said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes and whether that means fighting for someone who can't fight and needs help or doing nothing. If you decide to just stay here and do nothing then you know what the end result would be." BC finished.

Seth gave BC a neutral look and said nothing for a minute before a feral grin came on his face that unnerved BC, Hibiki and the female guard.

"Alright I'll bite. I'll help you out but after this tell your captain that we'll have a contract to work out." Seth said.

BC raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm a mercenary so don't be surprised. Consider this one a freebie though." Seth answered as the handcuffs came off his hands shocking everyone. He tossed the handcuffs back at BC who deftly caught it. "Well then I'll be off."

And with that Seth ran straight for the hangar where his fighter was. After he left BC was about to continue with escorting the remaining male prisoner when said person decided to speak up.

"Hey-um…" Hibiki nervously called to BC.

"What is it?" BC asked.

"Uh, I know I haven't really said too much to you so far but I-I want to say something. What I want to say is that…I'm not actually the pilot of the Vanguard." he said weakly while his eyes looked away nervously from B.C.

B.C. slightly narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

"The truth is that I'm just a third class parts mechanic that's all. I guess somehow I just didn't have the nerves to tell you before…" he explained nervously while still not looking at B.C.

"Huh? Then what are you doing here?" she asked in slight surprise.

"That's a really funny question actually. You see I…sort of got suckered into doing this pretty stupid thing. I kinda said that I would steal one of the Vanguards." he confessed. He let out a small laugh at his own apparent stupidity. "I mean, I don't want to give you the wrong idea…"

"I guess the data we have is incorrect because I had always heard that men were a proud race. But who would have ever thought that they were such pathetic beings?" BC interrupted as she gave him a look of mock pity and amusement.

Hibiki gasped as he was taken aback by that.

"No matter what the reason, aren't you here because of your pride? Or is it that you got yourself into this situation because of your need to show proof of your own existence?" she asked sternly while narrowing her eyes at him.

Hibiki looked down and said nothing as his eyes widened in shock.

"We are both humans. We breathe the same, we fight the same, we live the same, and we die the same. Are you going to chicken out while everyone is trying their best to survive? You have nowhere to run to. Nowhere to hide. And in the last moments of your life, you are going to die in a dark corner of the ship crying your eyes out unless you decide to change."

Hibiki went down on his knees and looked down helplessly at the floor as his hands curled into fists.

"I-I don't know…I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" Hibiki cried in despair.

BC looked down at Hibiki for a moment before closing her eyes.

"I guess I didn't need to say all that. Let's get back to the bridge!" she ordered to her subordinate and then began to walk towards the exit.

"But what about him?" the female guard asked.

"Don't worry, he doesn't have anywhere to run to now. And neither do we." BC said as she briefly looked back to Hibiki.

With that both of the women left the area leaving a depressed Hibiki on the floor.

**...**

In the bridge, Bart gasped as he looked at the transformed part of the ship which consisted of a massive view port overhead, six comm stations of which three where occupied, the command chair for the captain, and a platform which extended from the deck and had a pool shaped ending that overlooked the garden below.

"W-What is this thing?!" Bart asked nervously as he looked over the edge.

"The bridge has been extended all the way out there." Magno replied as she watched from behind.

"Look at that!" said the Navi robot in awe.

"Now show us what you can do." Magno commanded and then shoved Bart forward with the end of her cane.

"H-Hey watch it! This is dangerous!" he shouted as he stumbled to the walkway.

He walked to the pool-like pad while Magno and the Navi robot watched the cowardly cadet.

Bart inched closer to the pool and looked at the surface of blue-green colored liquid. "What the heck?!"

"What's wrong? Are you saying that you don't know how to operate it?" Magno asked.

"No! H-How should I put this? It's just that it's one of our military's closely guarded secrets!" Bart quickly explained to cover his fear. He then moved to the edge of the opening and cautiously placed his foot on the surface of the pool.

"Umm, let's see now. This should do-WAAHHH!" he screamed as the pool formed into a tentacle, took hold of his leg and dragged him into itself with a flash of a pillar of light leaving both Magno and the Navi robot staring with wide eyes.

"My, that's some secret weapon!" The old woman said as she stared at the now serene looking pool.

"He doesn't know how to use it, does he?" the robot asked.

Inside the liquid pool, Bart suddenly found himself naked and floating in some sort of virtual reality environment.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" he shouted as looked around in confusion.

All of a sudden, Bart saw images of the battle raging outside and he naturally reacted like the coward he is. He let out a piercing scream as he thrashed about in the environment, the entire ship thrashed with his movements, catching everyone on the ship off-guard.

"Well what do you know? The ship moved!" Magno remarked as she sat in her command chair.

**...**

Seth made it to the hanger and spotted the Alpinia no longer enclosed in crystal which he smiled at. He wasted no time climbing into the cockpit and checking the systems and lo and behold all the systems were green and he was ready to launch.

"Alright! Alpinia launching!"

As soon the hangar doors opened the Alpinia rushed out into the battlefield. When Seth caught the sight of the enemy he narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on the controls as he recognized who they were dealing with.

_'It's those SOBs...' _he thought in anger, _'The same ones who dared to attack Gradius.'_

**...**

Meanwhile the battle out in space continued to rage on and it seemed that for every fighter the dreads would destroy, four more would take the place of those destroyed by the dreads. It wasn't long before the three pirates found themselves badly outnumbered.

"There's just too many of them!" Jura said as she contacted Meia through the comm.

"Captain! The enemy's all around us, I don't know how much longer we can hold them!" Meia reported as she maneuvered her dread dodging incoming fire.

"Don't worry, reinforcements are on the way!" Magno assured as she appeared on the comm channel.

"Reinforcements? Who is it?" Meia asked.

Just then an object flew past the dreads at high speed towards the enemy.

"It's the Other Alien!" Dita cried out with joy as she spotted the Alpinia and instantly recognized the ship that freed her earlier.

"What?! You mean that guy?!" Jura shouted incredulously.

"He's our reinforcements?!" Meia asked as she looked at the strange fighter.

Everyone else on the ship were astonished at the sight of the black space fighter with orange stripes that looked like a Dread but with different features such as its unique twin-pronged fuselage, black cockpit and looked like an old world fighter jet.

Immediately the Alpinia fired its twin lasers at the nearest Cube fighter and destroyed it instantly. Five more Cube fighters followed as due to the Alpinia's Mind Blast double weapon and homing Psycom missiles. Six Cube fighters stopped their attack on the three Dreads and converged, heading straight for the Gradius space fighter.

_'Finally got your attention huh? Good! Playtime's over anyways.' _Seth thought with a serious expression.

He then activated the main trump card of the Gradius space fighters, The Option phantoms. Four multiple glowing spheres that came out from the space fighter and followed it while basically quadrupling the Alpinia's firepower. The four options locked on to their targets and let loose a barrage of lasers at the approaching group of enemies followed by more Psycom missiles and twin laser barrages destroying the group in seconds before they could even react to the overwhelming firepower.

Seth then heard the cry for help from Dita as he spotted the blue dread being tailed by a trio of Cube fighters and desperately trying to evade their fire.

_'I have to help her out...again...sheesh.'_

With that he spun the Alpinia around and chased after them. The Options once more acquired their targets and wasted no time taking out the three Cube fighters chasing the Dread with rapid fire and turning them into fire and scrap metal. Noticing the lack of enemy fire Dita looked up to see the black and orange space fighter fly past her and then the concealed face of the pilot appeared on her comm-link.

"You alright kid?" Seth asked her.

"I'm okay. Thanks Mr. Other Alien!" Dita cried with joy.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't call me that." Seth said in annoyance, "Either way you're welcome."

His radar pinged as it showed more than twenty Cube fighters approaching and he wasted no time charging right at them. After locking on to as many targets as possible the Alpinia unleashed a massive barrage of Psycom missiles, laser fire, Mind Blasts as the Options added their own barrage. The result was the large number of enemy forces being torn apart in seconds and leaving them as nothing but floating debris.

**...**

Magno and BC were quiet as they saw the destruction caused by the lone Gradius space fighter while everyone else were left shocked and speechless.

"We should consider ourselves lucky that the Gradian is on our side even though he has every reason not to." BC whispered to Magno.

"I agree with you BC. That could have been us if we got on his bad side." Magno whispered back, "He's the equivalent of a one-man squadron."

**...**

"WOW! Mr. Other Alien's amazing!" Dita cheered with stars in her eyes.

"I'll admit that for a man he's very skilled." Jura admitted. _'And his fighter's very graceful for a man-made machine.'_

Meia, like many others, was utterly speechless. _'Impossible! That man decimated the enemy in seconds and with unnatural reaction time! And his ship has firepower that's exceeds our Dreads! Is this the power of a Gradian?'_

**...**

"So who's next?" Seth challenged ready for whatever the enemy has in store for him.

As if hearing his taunt, the enemy mother ship focused its attention on the Alpinia and opened up and released two cubes that immediately turned into two more groups of enemy fighters.

"Really? This is starting to get old fast!" Seth said as he rushed towards the new enemy formation.

"More reinforcements are heading your way. Though we don't know how helpful he'll be." BC informed the pilots, but mumbled the last part to herself.

_'More reinforcements?'_ Meia thought with surprise.

"Really? Are we really going to need them?" Jura asked after seeing the destruction caused by the Alpinia.

"You may think we don't so but more backup would be appreciated. You may think that I'm a one-man squadron but even I have my limits." Seth said as he destroyed seven more Cube fighters.

Bursting out of the fused ship was the Vanguard, with the pilot screaming as the mech spun out of control and soon got surrounded by cube fighters.

"What is that?" Jura asked unimpressed by the Vanguard.

"Look! It's the first good alien!" Dita said in excitement.

_'That's our…other reinforcements?!/Are you shitting me?!'_ Meia and Seth thought, seeing the embarrassing way the Vanguard was being piloted.

The vanguard then broke away from the enemy fighters while Hibiki attempted to reorient himself.

"Alright you guys are pretty good…" he said with a shaken voice as he was still dazed from spinning. Then he violently shook his head to clear it of his disorientation. "But I'm getting a hang of it now!"

"Take this! LIGHTNING FIST!" he yelled as he made the vanguard lash out with a punch…that did absolutely nothing. The cube fighters simply surrounded him and opened fire while Hibiki let out a startled cry as his vanguard was hit.

Jura and Dita wore looks of disbelieving embarrassment at the lameness of Vanguard.

Meia just sighed at the stupidity of the pilot while Seth would have face palmed if not for the fact that he had a helmet on.

Hibiki eventually got the hang of his mech's control and faced the enemy.

"Alright! How about this!" he said as his vanguard drew a sword and sliced two enemy fighters. Then the vanguard accelerated forward and sliced two more enemies and charged on towards the enemy mother ship. The Alpinia followed it while providing cover fire for it. Then the fighter's sensors went off forcing Seth to pull out just as several Cube fighters latched onto the Vanguard. Just as he was about to assist the pilot his sensors went off once again but this time it was because the blue Dread was going head on towards the Vanguard.

"Dita! What are you doing?! Fall back!" Seth heard Meia order the pilot.

"There's nothing to worry about! Mr. Alien can win this! I just know it!" Dita replied undaunted.

"Dita!"

"Didn't hear her?! Pull back!" Seth also yelled out but his words also fell on deaf ears.

Unfortunately the enemy mother ship capitalized on the opening and let loose metallic tendrils that struck the vanguard head on and sent powerful charges to it along the tendrils. At the same time Dita's dread collided with him headlong. Then a massive explosion followed engulfing both the Vanguard and Dita's fighter.

"DITA!" Meia and Jura screamed at the sight.

Seth only looked on at the explosion for a while but as he was about to be enraged, his radar went off once more and this time it came from the explosion which confused him.

**...**

Magno lowered her head and spoke solemnly, "Well, I guess our miracle didn't happen."

"We should tell the crew to evacuate the ship." BC suggested.

However the Navi robot beeped loudly and pointed to the main view screen. Something was coming out of the center of the explosion.

**...**

Emerging from the fireball was a giant mech. It was humanoid in shape, deep navy blue with silver trim, had dual shoulder-mounted cannons behind it. On its forearms was a pair of double-edged blades that glowed with a blue-green light and a horn protruding from the forehead.

"What is that?" Meia asked in confusion at what she was seeing.

Jura's eyes widened at what was in front of her.

"What is THAT?! Is that another secret weapon of the men?!" Magno asked in awe.

"Is this… a real miracle?" Buzam wondered.

Seth also stared in disbelief before that turned into insane laughter.

"What's so funny?" Magno asked the male pilot.

"Looks like your miracle's about to happen!" Seth managed to say before his laughter continued. _'Things are about to get interesting!'_

**...**

The new mech flew towards the enemy ship as it ripped off the burning tendrils from its chest. Several smaller attack drones were deployed to stop it, but those were swept away like little gnats by the large machine. The ship then tried to seal itself by closing its maw, but the machine simply pried the ship wide open by using its bladed hands. Then the mammoth cannons went into position on the shoulders, pointing forward into the ship. The cannons powered up and unleashed a powerful blast which caused the back of the ship to bulge out.

The mech then moved backwards as the ship exploded. The crew and Dread pilots were in awe at the sight before them. When it was all over, the only thing left was a burned out wreck with cube fighters shutting down.

_'Not bad at all kid. I'm impressed.' _Seth silently congratulated.

**...**

Within the giant mech, Hibiki had his eyes closed as he sighed in relief.

"I made it! I really made it!" he thought. It was finally over. But when he opened his eyes it was then that something caught his attention. He saw a smaller lighter skin tone hand intertwined with his on a control pad.

"What the heck is going on here?!" he shouted.

Hibiki realized that something was sitting on top of him and started panicking when he recognized what or rather who was on his lap!

"Hmmmm. I just knew that Mr. Alien would protect us." Dita said, as she was half-asleep as she leaned back onto Hibiki's chest and snuggled closer.

Hibiki felt very uncomfortable as held back a cry.

"Is this…the proof of my existence?!" he asked in disbelief.

The pirate crew all crowded the hanger and waited as Meia and Jura's dreads along with the giant Vandread and the Alpinia came in for a landing on the deck. Just as the giant mech was about to land, it suddenly shifted back into Dita's Dread and Hibiki's Vanguard. Seth got out in time to see Hibiki collapsing on the floor in exhaustion. He then noticed the pirate captain waiting and just looked on at her.

"Take him back to the cell. Gently." Magno ordered as she regarded the unconscious Hibiki.

"Wait! Mr. Alien!" Dita cried out as soon as she had gotten off her Dread.

However, she was held back as guards blocked her way, preventing her from coming close to Hibiki as he was taken away.

Magno then turned to Seth whose hands were folded and his eyes narrowed at her.

"Seth Reager. BC told me that you wanted to talk to me right?"

Seth nodded in reply while still suspicious of her.

"Then please come with me and BC to the conference room."

Seth followed Magno and BC as they went off to the conference room while some guards followed keeping the pilot under guard.

* * *

**Chapter III End.**


	4. New Threat, New Crew

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. **

**Chapter 4: New Threat, New Crew**

* * *

Somewhere in the galaxy, the newly combined vessel, comprising of the Mejerian pirates' vessel and the old section of the Ikazuchi, now completely engulfed in a crystal like cocoon by the Paksis, drifted aimlessly in space near the wreckage of the enemy ship from the last battle. Inside the conference room of the new vessel, the captain of the pirate crew Magno, her first officer BC /Buzam Calessa, and the Dread Squadron leader Meia Gisborn are having a meeting about their current situation.

"Our entire ship has been completely swallowed up. The bridge, residential, and engine room have been engulfed by the crystals. Fortunately the Dread Platform and the Reg systems suffered no damage. We're currently cleaning up the mess and installing the new database." BC said before the monitor behind her changed to a different scene.

"The Paksis seems to have finally reached its peak, the bridge has stopped sliding and is currently situated above the ship's garden. All other changes to the ship have apparently ceased. Your report Meia?"

Meia took the floor to give her own report.

"Thank you Buzam. The three dreads that were absorbed and transformed by the Paksis Pragma no longer fit in our standard Dread Platforms; we modified the cargo bay on the Men's side and had them stored there. During the modifications we learned that the ship hasn't been used for quite a long time. The circuits, cables, and wires are decayed and useless."

"The real problem is our current location." BC added, activating a holographic map from the table in the meeting room. "It's hard to believe, but we're a very long way from Mejere, in fact we're in a completely different nebula. It will take at least approximately two-hundred and seventy days to return home."

Magno sighed at the news, as she tried to cool herself off with a small fan. "What did we do to deserve being swept across the galaxy?"

She then turned to address Meia. "Any word about our enemy?"

"My team is understaffed so I sent some…volunteers to investigate the wreckage." Meia replied somewhat sheepishly which peeked the old woman's interest.

"Volunteers? Who?" Magno asked.

**...**

Out in space a familiar blue dread was flying towards the wreckage from the last battle. Inside the dread is the ever happy redhead Dita and the Reg Central head Gascogne.

"Wow! This is so exciting! I get to see the inside of a UFO...Oh, look at that! It's an Adamsky-type UFO! Did you see it Ms. Gasco?" Dita cried out in excitement.

Gascogne sighed as she sat behind Dita on board the lively girl's dread fighter. It was going to be a long investigation in the mind of the older woman.

…

In the bridge, the bridge operators were busy trying to fight off the intense heat while staying on duty.

A dark skinned girl with long hair in hoops and braids named Amarone, turned to look at Ezra wondering why she seemed more tired than usual.

"Are you feeling alright, Ezra?" she asked.

Ezra looked up, panting lightly from the heat. "Oh I'm fine, thank you."

"What's going on with the air conditioning?" A blonde girl named Belvedere sighed as she tried to fan herself with a small piece of card like paper. She then looked down at her console and contacted the engineers down in the Paksis reactor room. "Could you do something about the heat? It's eighty-two degrees up here!"

"It's eighty-six down here! So stop complaining and endure it!" An engineer replied to Belvedere's complaint as another one to the left of her looked at her.

"Still no response. Are you having any luck over there Parfet?"

"This system here is so ancient, maybe it's some kind of prototype. That would explain all the problems we are having wouldn't it?" Parfet pondered, but before the engineer could respond she turned as she heard a call for help from one of her comrades. The women that called was currently struggling to keep the Navi-robot still to use as a link between the Paksis and interpret the data, however the robot was far from cooperative.

"Let go of me!" It cried out.

"Come on stop moving! How can we download the data if you make it impossible?!" The engineer reprimanded as she struggled to restrain the uncooperative Navi bot.

…

While her fellow crewmates worked, Paiway was sitting at the edge of a construction elevator with a rope firmly tied around her waist as she wrote on her notepad.

"As the brave crew takes over the enemy ship, Magno's family finds themselves facing an entirely new crisis!" she monologues out loud while writing in her journal about the recent turn of events for the Magno pirates.

"Paiway, if you don't have something to do why not help out around here!" A crew member said as she was going over the inventory to make sure everything was in order as it was moved.

"I am doing something." the young girl countered without looking.

"Hey wait up! We need a lift!" Barnette shouted getting on the elevator with Jura not far behind her. They dropped their bags while looking at the young nurse.

"Fooling around again?!" Barnette accused questioningly as Paiway just put her hand inside her frog back pack and talking in a deeper voice while moving the mouth.

"Barnette and Jura sure have a lot of stuff!" She then looked to the little puppet. "I'm glad are rooms are fine so we don't have to move, Ribbit."

"She's pushing my buttons." Jura scowled.

"You're not helping matters." Barnette scolded in agreement with Jura.

Then she noticed the rope around Paiway's waist.

"Hey Paiway. Why is that rope tied to you?" Barnette asked as the younger girl smiled.

"This elevator is only temporary; if it falls, you're on your own. See you later!" Paiway giggled and waved as she was lifted off the platform by someone pulling the rope leaving behind the two Dread pilots.

"You're kidding right?!" Jura asked nervously with wide eyes.

"PAIWAY!" Barnette called out.

**...**

In the brig the women were hosing down the male prisoners who were now only in their under-garments as part of their 'decontamination' process. An agitated Hibiki and hysterical Bart were complaining and scurrying about like mice while Duero stood his ground.

Meanwhile watching all of this going on from a holographic monitor in the conference room, Magno and Buzam were watching and contemplating their male prisoners and their guest who was in the hangar working on his space fighter.

"So these four are the only men left onboard, is that right?" Magno asked.

"Yes, Captain. We'll have to depend upon them until we fully understand the new systems on this ship." BC answered.

Magno nodded. "Yes, I have never seen anything like it before in my long years."

She recalled the memory of when Bart was pulled into the strange portal in the bridge. When the enemy was destroyed after, the ship went on full automatic standby mode and released Bart from it.

"It was as if the ship had a will of its own, very unnerving. And there's him…"

Magno then recalled the talk she had with the Gradian pilot Seth Reager, which was interesting.

_**Flashback_**_

_"I'm glad that you could sit down to talk with us." Magno said as she sat down with BC standing beside her._

_Seth was also seated in the conference room across from them however his soulless stare made them tense._

_"Forgive me if I tell you that I'm not as enthusiastic as you are." Seth said folding his arms, "I know that you wanted to have me locked up along with the others even after I helped you. At least you had enough sense to not do that."_

_The two women in front of him got tense before they regained their composure._

_"Well now can we get down to business?" Magno began, "So what's it that you wanted to talk about Seth?"_

_"Simple my conditions for working with you, if at all considering the history between our planets." Seth answered, "Something I know you two are aware of."_

_"Yes we know about it Seth." BC said, "That's something I don't even want to remember."_

_"Same here." Seth agreed. Planet Gradius did not like Mejere and Tarak due to their sexist views like the others but Gradius absolutely despised Mejere and Tarak due to certain events where things spiraled out of control and nearly caused the annihilation of one planet._

_"Anyways Seth. Before I agree to anything I need you to answer some questions of our own." Magno said, "You wouldn't mind that?"_

_"Depends on what questions you ask." Seth replied dryly._

_"What do you mean?" BC asked._

_"I may no longer be a part of Gradius' military but that doesn't mean that I'd reveal any secrets of theirs even if I want nothing to do with them." Seth answered._

_"I understand." Magno nodded, "How do you know about me and my crew? I didn't think that Gradius would be interested in us at all." _

_"Like I told your second in command here I'm a mercenary and it was during my time in such a business that I got news of you and your crew and then followed by good intel too from a credible source just to keep me on my toes."_

_"Alright. Next question, BC and I noticed that you don't seem to have any love for your home and like you mentioned too you don't want anything to do with them. What caused that?"_

_"That I'd rather not answer. It's very personal, I hope you can respect that."_

_"Okay, we can respect that. We all have our secrets after all." BC said, "Another question then. We'd like to ask you what you mission was on Tarak." _

_"I was sent to Tarak on a mission to...locate a certain item for a client." Seth answered evenly._

_"Oh? And what is this item that's so important that it required so much effort for you to get?" Magno asked as she was very intrigued as was BC._

_"That's classified. Client confidentiality. However I can say that my mission is complete and the results of said mission are of no threat to you or your crew."_

_"If that's the case why are you still here? If your mission is done shouldn't you return to your client to report?" BC asked while looking at Seth with suspicion._

_"I would if I knew where the hell I am. I'm in a system that I have no knowledge of and the system I live in may be close by or far away but I can't tell. Besides it's safer to travel in a group than winging it alone in this situation." Seth simply explained._

_Magno and BC were satisfied with Seth's answers, even though they knew he wasn't telling them everything but they chose to not push their luck with him._

_"So now about my deal: None of your crew and I mean __none of your crew__ tampers with the Alpinia unless I let them, second I get a room to myself, and finally I take orders from only you and as long as they are not influenced by anyone in your crew and they do not go against my morals. In return you get my services without having to pay me money, which I'd normally do but due to how unique our circumstance is there's no point to it. So do we have a deal?"_

_Magno stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Alright we have a deal Seth Reager. But while here you'll be pulling your own weight." _

_"Glad to hear that and I'll have no problems with pulling my weight." Seth said with a smile before his expression turned serious, "And I hope that you hold onto your end of the deal for your sake." _

_**Flashback End_**_

Magno had to admit that those he was as good as she knew Gradius' elites would be after seeing him in action and was also glad she got such a skilled pilot on their side.

Buzam was also thinking the same as she knew about how deadly Gradius' pilots were from personal experience. And Seth scared her even more than anyone else she's met so far. Those eyes of his especially added to the intimidation. "It's a good thing we got on Seth's good side." she said.

"Not exactly. We're just not on his bad side." Magno stated, "Like every Gradian he still holds a grudge against our planet and Tarak. Still it's better than him being our enemy. Definitely someone we can keep around as long as we don't incur his wrath."

**...**

In their cell, Bart was telling another one of his fake stories to his fellow prisoners. Duero was partly listening to humor him while paying attention to the environment around him. Hibiki was dozing off.

"It was so unnerving! My comrades fell one after another all around me and before long I was the only left! And the one thing on my mind is how close I was to death! But I persevered because I knew it was my duty as a soldier of Tarak to live on and retake the ship from the women no matter the odds!"

_"Man, this stinks! I thought I had changed my life but look how things turned out." _Hibiki thought as he was still asleep, _"But still what the heck..."_

"Anyway what the heck happened back there?" Bart asked while he leapt off the box and looked toward Hibiki as he stood.

That snapped Hibiki out of his train of thought.

"Who made your vanguard and why did it combine with a Mejerian fighter?" Bart asked the younger pilot.

Hibiki glared at him. "How should I know? Forget about that! Don't think I'm going to forgive for socking me before!"

"Calm down. There's no need to be upset I was only thinking of your best interest." Bart said while putting his hands up in defense.

Clearly a bad choice of words.

"You really don't know when to shut up do you? There's enough hot air in here as it is!" Hibiki snapped.

"He's simply worried." Duero commented getting the attention of Bart and Hibiki, "He's trying to take his mind off of things through conversation, try to forgive him."

"Wow, you're pretty sharp. You must be one of the elite." Bart remarked clearly impressed. "So what do you think then? With my superior speaking abilities, your brains, and his Vanguard we'll be able to take over the ship."

"Oh really? Would you care to repeat that?"

Bart gulped and turned to see BC with a few female guards staring down at him.

"Oh nothing. We were just joking around." he replied with a nervous laugh.

"I'd like to hear your jokes. You'll come with me, won't you?" BC asked in mock politeness.

"He-heh…I'd be happy to as long it's of social nature." Bart replied with a nervous smile.

**...**

Inside the wreck, Gascogne looked at everything that she could see. The ship looked like someone stuffed one explosive pack into the mouth of the ship and blow it sky high. She sighed and responded to the call of her commanding officer.

_"Gascogne, how are you coming along with your investigation of the alien wreck?"_

"This thing looks more like a giant factory then a space ship to me." Gascogne said.

_"Well? Found anything substantial?" _Magno asked.

"We're searching through the ship's database right now but it's pretty hefty Captain." Gasco replied as she surveyed the site.

Suddenly Dita popped up from below Gasco's sight and in front of her, surprising the Reg leader.

"Hey Ms. Gasco! Would it be alright if I looked around for a while?" Dita asked excitedly.

Gasco scowled and flicked the glass of the girl's visor. "Absolutely not! We got work to do!"

In the vacuum of space, this gentle yet firm push had sent the young redhead flying backwards. "Whoa! I can't stop!"

Magno chuckled at the sight, until she got a communication from Buzam.

"Yes BC?"

_"I brought our navigator here." _The first officer said through the communicator.

Magno nodded. "I'll be right there."

She then looked back the monitor.

"I leave the investigation in your hands Gascogne."

_"Gotcha." _Gasco acknowledged.

After ending that conversation, Magno leaned into her chair as it moved back as a door opened, the seat rotated around as it descended before arriving at her station on the bridge. She saw Bart and Buzam waiting for her.

Bart stared at Magno nervously, wondering what she wanted from him.

"Uh h-hello there! I hear you wanted something from me?" he asked getting the captain's attention.

Magno nodded, as she pointed her fan towards the platform where the navigation well was. "Yes. That thing. We haven't been able to interface into it and operate it, so tell us how you did it."

Bart gritted his teeth nervously as he thought of an answer. He quickly came up with an idea and smiled.

"Well of course I should, given the situation I have no choice." He raised his arms, flexing the cuffs indicating to Buzam that he needed his hands to be free. The first officer complied and activated the release for the manacles.

Rubbing his wrists lightly, Bart began to walk to the platform.

"Now listen very carefully. This is a male ship, so therefore only men are capable of operating it." He turned to face them while walking backwards.

"So I suppose that it was rather fortunate for you all that you found me." he said, making sure to ensure that he is in disposable to the pirate crew's survival. While he was in the middle of his explanation he never noticed the pool within the platform reach out and grab his leg. "In fact you could say that I'm an indispensable-Gah!"

With a bright flash the pool fastened around Bart's leg and sucked the hapless man into the well again.

Magno sighed as she leaned back and shook her head. "I really don't understand this system at all."

Inside the navigation well, Bart found himself once again naked and surrounded in the holographic display of the outer environment of the ship.

"Uh ... Okay." Bart said looking around before he heard a noise, looking around the sphere shape that was the ships main control system. Without warning the ship's systems and main drive system came online and the vessel leaped forward and accelerated off in an unknown direction away from the wreck of the enemy vessel.

From the sudden jump the ship rocked and caught everyone off guard, the sudden movement knocking everyone who was standing off balance and while sending anything not tied down scattering in several directions.

Jura and Barnette were thrown off their feet in the elevator and their possessions went scattering all over the place.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?!" Barnette screamed as she tried to regain her balance.

Everyone on the bridge braced themselves in their seats while B.C. struggled to keep from falling over.

"What's going on now?" Magno demanded.

Belvedere looked over her terminal. "The system just booted up Captain!"

Amarone started typing into her counsel after steadying herself. "Projecting current destination!"

Magno wasn't in a good mood and she made it clear to Bart.

"What in blazes did you just do in there?!" she shouted angrily.

"N-now hold on a minute!" Bart said as he began looking around, trying to reverse the sudden actions of the ship.

**...**

At the wreckage Gascogne and Dita were oblivious to the fact that there ship just took off without them just as they had finished collecting data from the wrecked ship.

"All right, we've got what we came here for. Let's hurry back to the ship, the sooner we're out of this wreck, the better off I'll be."

"Roger Miss Gasco."

Dita made her way to the opening that she and the head supplier had gone through. However, the moment she looked out to where their ship was, she gave a cry of shock as they didn't find the ship in the area…just empty space.

As soon as Gascogne arrived and saw the situation, she wasted little time and began to try and establish a communications link with the ship once more. She had been somewhat concerned when there seemed to be no response to her calls.

**...**

"Ms. Gasco? Dita? If you can hear me please respond!" Ezra cried as she tried to get in contact with the two stranded women but to no avail. Then her face flushed lightly as the young woman began to sweat profusely as her breathing became shallow bit by bit.

When no one heard a response Buzam turned to Belvedere.

"Release the markers, so we don't lose them."

"Roger!"

As Belvedere followed the order BC heard a person collapse and shout. She looked back in shock as she spotted Ezra passed out over her console, her skin drenched with sweat and her face flushed brighter as her panting became heavier.

"Ezra! What's wrong?" she asked in concern.

"Is something wrong here?" asked an arriving Seth after being done with his maintenance of his fighter. With the sudden movement of the ship he'd figured that the crew had figured out a way to get the ship moving. He was thinking of staying in the bridge and waiting on standby.

"Yes there's something wrong. Ezra's fainted for some reason we don't know. Can you make yourself useful and help carry her to the medical bay? I'll lead you there." BC said.

"Okay...sure." Seth agreed and he picked her up and carefully carried her in his arms as he noticed her bulging stomach. _'So that's why she's feeling off? Tch! I can tell them what's going on with her but that would be saying too much.'_

**...**

Back at the brig, Duero sat in the same spot as before while Hibiki slept against a crate with his head slightly hunched. They had already felt the ship shudder earlier when Bart managed to get the ship moving again.

It was then that Hibiki started to mumble in his sleep which prompted the doctor to check on him.

"Grandpa..." Hibiki muttered as he awoke, only to widen his waking eyes at seeing Duero pressing his forehead against his own, prompting him to push him off in response.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Hibiki shouted, glaring at the stoic doctor.

"Just checking your temperature, that's all." Duero replied calmly.

"I'm alright doc, there's nothing wrong with me or anything." Hibiki replied rather timidly.

"Except you were mumbling in your sleep. Who's grandpa?" Duero asked suspiciously.

"Grandpa is just grandpa, he's no one special. He's the one who raised me ever since I was little." Hibiki replied blankly.

"Peculiar, I find it rather hard to believe that someone of the first generation would have contact with you." Duero stated curiously.

"You're called Duero, correct?"

The young doctor turned to see BC along with two other female guards staring at them.

"It's your turn to come with us."

Duero nodded his head and stood up to leave with them.

**...**

In the navigation well, Bart was in full panic mode as he saw just where the ship was heading towards…

"We're going in there?! How do I stop this crazy ship?!"

The ship didn't pay attention to his complaints and dove headlong into the mix of gases of the nebula's outer ring. Various chunks of ice and debris flew all around the ship and smacked into the hull of the fused vessel. Unfortunately for the cowardly Bart, due to the neural interface link between him and the ship, anything that collided with the ship came to hit him in the form of pain.

"Will somebody please raise the shields?!" he called out while rubbing his head after a chunk of ice collided with the ship.

Bart wasn't the only one with problems on the ship. At least ninety percent of all operating systems were offline. Parfet and the engineers battled against heat and exhaustion to deal with different issues such as the crystalline response being down by 45%, further dampening the amounts of power, and the temperature had risen. She went over to the engineer who was supposed to be checking the Navi-robot…only to find the robot mumbling the word sick further confusing her. Jura and Barnette found themselves trapped inside the elevator, buried underneath their own possessions. Meia on the other hand was in dismay as she had found out that the Dread platforms were also offline. That naturally meant that she couldn't send anyone to rescue Gascogne and Dita.

**...**

The doors to the medical bay hissed open as BC led Duero and the two guards in. At the very end of the room was Ezra, who lay sleeping on a bed and Seth standing at the corner of the room. Once he saw them enter he nodded at them in acknowledgement and walked out of the medical bay.

"She's running a fever and it won't go down. Will you take a look at her?" BC asked her with a hint of concern.

"That's curious," Duero stated, while staring at BC evenly. "I was under the impression that women's technology was quite advanced."

"Hmm," BC hummed with a small amused smile at the man's inquiry. "You really are one of the elite. Always probing for answers at every opportunity you have."

She remained silent for a moment before answering.

"Very well. Approximately ninety percent of our ship's systems are offline right now. Unfortunately that includes the medical ones. Is that enough information for you?"

Duero stared down at her with his expression unchanged.

Then he gave a small smile.

"I'll examine the patient."

Duero began to run his checks on the young bridge operator. He was running a scanner on the young woman which showed an image of the woman's body and he seemed to note some very peculiar patterns and signals from within the female. Suddenly the power in the medical bay went out which prompted the doctor to lash out and snatch the communicator from the female guard to his right, ignoring her glare as he activated the device.

"Engineering I'm trying to work on a patient. Make power to the sick bay a priority."

"Hey we got our own problems here! I'd like to do that for you but it's just that I can't read men's language!" replied a frustrated Parfet on the communicator.

Duero looked to BC from the corner of his eyes. "If I was there I could read it for you."

BC smiled at the doctor in amusement. "Go right ahead."

**...**

The moment Duero stepped into Engineering, the reaction to his presence was simple.

"It's a man!" one of the engineers screamed as she caught sight of the young Tarakan doctor.

Parfet simply glanced at Duero and nodded her approval of his arrival.

"Oh, good. Come over here." She then led the doctor over to the worktable where the little Navi robot was hooked up to one of the consoles. "I'm trying to check the status of the Paksis but I can't really do much with all this data if I can't read it."

"It's just a Hi-type number six." Duero replied as he examined the data being shown on the Navi robot's screen. He became rather curious about the little setup the engineer had going on. "What are you doing?"

"I haven't really figured out the exact reason, but this guy's and the Paksis's wavelengths are linked. I thought it'd make a good sensor but I can't read the display." Parfet explained.

Duero walked over and began typing into the robot's display while the engineer watched.

"How is it?"

"It appears some impurities are spreading within the main engine room, probably due to the sudden changes."

"As I understand it the system was originally designed to tap into the crystal and collect energy from its growth, but this reaction..."

"Perhaps it's due to the fusion of the two ships." Duero suggested.

Parfet nodded in agreement. "Probably. Do you know how to correct it?"

"I'm sorry but I happen to be a doctor not an engineer." Duero replied which seemed to slightly annoy Parfet.

"That's no excuse! Everything that moves is alive, that's what I believe anyway! And it's a doctor's duty to fix all living things, right?" she pouted in anger.

The feisty female engineer outburst peaked Duero's curiosity before he lazily smiled at her.

"You have a very interesting perspective." he replied as he removed his trench coat.

**...**

The ship rumbled as the vessel's lower section was fully immersed in the nebula, before the engines went on full shutdown. The ship was now propelled by pure momentum now.

"Captain, it appears that the engines have shut down." Amarone reported as she gazed at her terminal.

"Just when I get the good news that we've stopped, we find ourselves in a nebula of all the places." Magno said dryly as she was still being cooled by the ice pack over her head and the portable fan, before it shut down as well with her sighing in defeat.

"Captain! Sensors indicate that another section of the ship is now transforming again!" Belvedere reported.

Outside of the ship's hull, near the arm areas of the ship, new crystal formations appeared as the ship once more underwent another transformation.

**...**

Back in engineering, Duero was busy monitoring the state of the ship. He was staring intensely at a countdown screen, which was stuck bouncing between forty four and forty three.

"The parameters of the ship are fluctuating erratically." Duero informed Parfet who was still working on the Navi robot behind him.

"I see," Parfet said, jotting data down on her clipboard as she studied the robot's progress. "Why is this happening all of the sudden?"

"Pyoro…" the small machine mumbled before shaking loose of the cords attached to it and releasing steam in their wake.

"I'm fine, thank you." Pyoro muttered as he began to "blush".

"What's with this thing?" Parfet asked.

"Perhaps it has something to do with the composition of the nebula." Duero stated.

"That's it!" Parfet exclaimed as she slammed a fist to her palm. "The ship must be getting rid of the built up impurities and neutralizing them all."

Duero nodded in agreement with her answer.

"Fascinating. It seems to behave like a living being."

**...**

Meanwhile the sections of the ship that were undergoing transformation started to crack and peel away revealing a more sleek and refined hull structure underneath.

"Captain, I have a suggestion for you." Buzam called in as she got into contact with the bridge and to her commanding officer through the active communication systems. She was currently in the sub-bridge of the former Ikazuchi colony ship.

"Go ahead BC." Magno sighed wearily with fatigue on her face as she continued to try her best to remain cool despite the intense heat.

"Our investigations have determined that male vanguard and the Alpinia can launch without problems." she reported.

"I'm listening."

"It's a big risk, but we could have that man with the vanguard go out and use it to look for Dita and Gascogne."

"That's not a bad idea, but what about the Gradian? Couldn't he do the same with his fighter?"

"He could if I could find him, after he helped taking Ezra to the med bay he left immediately for who knows where."

"Not surprising…Very well, I'll allow it."

"Acknowledged." But just as BC was about to sign off, Magno straightened up slightly as she noticed her second in command's location.

"By the way. What are you doing in the men's section of the ship?" the pirate captain asked.

For a few moments the vice-captain just stared at her superior then she blinked. "Just fulfilling my duty as your first mate. Over."

And with that she signed off.

**...**

The laser drill in Dita's hand hummed as it fired a beam into one of the numerous metal prongs that entrapped Gascogne. However the metal remained intact, much to their disappointment.

"It's not working at all!" Dita cried.

"Well this is really comfortable!" Gasco berated herself. "I can't believe I screwed things up this bad."

Dita stared at her superior with tearful eyes. "Hold on I'll go get the tools from the dread."

"Don't bother."

"What?"

"Did you forget our mission? We came here with a job to do and someone has to return with the data."

"But I can't just leave you here Ms. Gasco!" Dita said weakly.

"Who said you were leaving me here to rot?" Gascogne asked, giving Dita an assuring smile. "This isn't some third-rate soap opera. I want you to go back to the ship and get some help."

"Okay…," Dita muttered reluctantly. "I'll be back soon. Don't go anywhere."

With a thrust from her jetpack she launched herself out of the wreckage and towards the Dread. Just as she slipped inside and jettisoned herself into the swirling void, the ship began to hum with activity.

"Huh?" Gasco craned her head to see a squad of cube-types slip silently towards her.

"Looks like I've got company."

**...**

"ARGH! I can't take it anymore!" Hibiki shouted. Then he promptly took off his jacket and started to strip in effort to cool off. After he relieved himself of his clothes Hibiki flopped himself on the floor lying on his back.

"Hoooootttttt…!" Hibiki moaned, wearing nothing but a loin cloth and his clothes stacked under his head like a pillow.

"My, my, what an interesting outfit." spoke a familiar feminine voice.

Hibiki perked up as a shadow descended upon him and looked up to see the familiar silver haired woman in front of them.

"So it's my turn to go with you huh?" Hibiki asked with a snarl.

"On the contrary, I came to ask you a favor." BC said with a smile.

Hibiki looked at her suspiciously.

"A favor?"

"I'm going to be honest with you we left a two of our crew behind I want you to go rescue them." BC said.

"Ha! Give me one good reason why we should even help you!" Hibiki scoffed as he looked away with a smug smirk.

"This is no time for men and women to be fighting each other." BC reprimanded with a frown, "You saw it, didn't you? That unidentified enemy? I thought you'd be willing able to help us since you defeated them before."

Hibiki glared at her and scoffed.

"He's going now and I'm coming with him."

Both Hibiki and BC turned around to see Seth leaning on the wall. Hibiki looked at the Gradian in shock and before he could protest Seth gave him a cold glare that made the teen shut his mouth.

"Like BC over here said we have bigger things worry about than your petty war between your sexes or my planet's grudge with yours. We're in unknown territory, we have an enemy that won't hesitate to kill us on sight, and now we have people that need rescuing. So drop the bullshit and move your ass!"

"Fine!" Hibiki snapped as he sat up and got himself dressed, "I'll do this just once. However I'm not going to give in to her threats anymore!"

"Oh am I threatening you?" BC asked casually as she deactivated the laser bars of the cell, "It wasn't intended that way. I was only stating facts."

Seth merely walked over to Hibiki and said, "Enough whining brat! We have work to do."

"Hey! Quit calling me that!" Hibiki snapped.

"Until you grow up and act like a man for once I'll only see you as a brat." Seth replied.

**...**

"Look at this. The intake and outtake ratio is off." Duero pointed out.

"That's because there are not enough link routes!" Parfet said at her own end of the monitor.

"But the current ones can't handle the stress."

"Don't give up like that! There has to be an answer!"

Duero stared at her before looking down in thought, his hand cupping his chin. His eyes widened as an idea came to mind. The ship was acting like a human body, the sudden heat going through out the ship was a fever which would explain it flying into the nebula, to cool itself to combat the heat and stop the entire system from overheating while the link routes acted like arteries which transferred white blood cells to where it's needed. But in this case it's transferring power to the built up impurities.

With this theory he looked to Parfet.

"How about a bypass then? When there is a blocked artery we simply create a different route for it." Duero suggested.

Parfet smiled as she understood what the doctor had in mind and balled up her right hand and firmly placed in the palm of her left.

"A detour huh? Great idea!" she complimented enthusiastically.

She walked up to him and patted his left shoulder in approval. "You know something… you wouldn't make a bad engineer!"

Parfet turned and directed her attention to her staff and began giving new orders. "Listen up, everybody! It's time for us to get busy!"

Duero looked around him briefly before looking down at his shoulder and lightly placed his hand where she touched him and contemplated Parfet's touch.

**...**

Meanwhile back on the bridge trouble was brewing as things took a turn for the worst.

"Something's on an intercept course!" Amarone announced with a gasp as she looked at the sensors display.

"What is it this time?" the captain growled.

"An asteroid sized ice massed is on a collision course with this ship Captain!" Amarone reported as her sensors confirmed the object was heading for the ship.

"Did you hear that? Do something now!" Magno shouted at Bart who was still in the navigation well.

"AHHHHHH!" Bart screamed as he also spotted the incoming asteroid. "Help me! Get me out of here!"

**...**

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! NOOO!" Dita cried out as she was now running for her life, as three enemy fighters were chasing her and taking pot shots at her Dread. She used every evasive maneuver she had learned from her fellow dread pilots and her comrade and leader Meia and every other maneuver she could think of at the moment. But the alien fighters remained behind her and had no intention of letting the young redhead escape.

Gascogne looked in morbid fascination and amazement as she observed the alien cube fighters giving chase to Dita and the smaller drones beginning their repairs and re-activating their mothership with clean-cut efficiency while she remained trapped within her pillar like prison. Confirming her suspicions that the so called alien vessel was actually a massive mobile factory.

"What the hell are these things? They can regenerate even under these conditions?" She asked out loud in slight astonishment.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she caught movement through the corner of her eye, she turned and saw a cube drone of a very large variety and rather ominous moving towards her. The machine looked like some massive bug, with a massive array of clawed appendages, and two large soulless eyes focusing solely on her. She had a very accurate idea that this machine wasn't here to have a chat with her.

Gascogne laughed nervously as she focused her own gaze at the mechanized drone.

"I guess I know what you want for dinner." she joked lightly as she stared at the machine in fear.

At the same time Dita was trying to avoid the shots from the cubes chasing her as best as she could but was having little success.

"I really hate aliens who don't know when to stop!" she cried but stopped when she looked down at her radar to see another approaching blip heading for her.

"From the front too?!" Dita asked in growing panic.

At that instant, one of the fighters pursuing her managed to hit near her dread causing the fighter to be rocked by the hit and making Dita accidentally activate her ship's weapons and firing them. Twin beams of destruction lanced forward and caused a small explosion some distance away from her as soon as they struck their target.

They discharged with a flash of light then she looked up and prayed they were gone. But, out of the darkness a red giant machine and a black, orange stripped one appeared.

"HEY YOU! IS THAT ANY WAY TO THANK SOMEONE WHO CAME ALL THE WAY OUT TO GET YOU?!" Hibiki shouted as his image flashed on her computer.

Hibiki's vanguard was little red from the heat of Dita's misfire but it was no worse for wear but apparently he was more than a little ticked at being shot at.

Dita however became overjoyed at seeing him. "Mr. Alien!"

She then accelerated her Dread towards the vanguard.

"G-Get away!" the young pilot stuttered as he activated his machine's braking thrusters to decelerate.

But apparently his protest fell on deaf ears as Dita came ever closer.

"You came all this way to save me didn't you? You really are a good alien!" she said as she continued to charge at him while Hibiki began to panic as he wildly flapped his machine's arms and legs.

"Would you knock that OFF!" he screamed but it was too late as with a flash of light the vanguard and dread fused to create the giant blue Vandread from before.

"Oh, wow! What is all this?" Dita asked in delight as she tried to gaze at everything she could see, as she now sat on Hibiki's lap in the cockpit of the massive mech.

"H-Hey! Would you quit moving around?" Hibiki demanded. He didn't like the way she was moving and squirming on his lap for a second, as her movements on his lap started to make him feel weird.

The young Dread pilot smiled as she turned to look at Hibiki right in the eyes.

"I want you to know that I believed in you. I knew that no mattered what happened you would come to rescue me." she said with utter sincerity.

"Hmm!" he grunted. "I didn't come here to rescue you. I was just looking for you."

He looked away with a neutral expression.

"Well, thank you." Dita whispered happily to him though blissfully unaware of how her smile was affecting the young pilot.

It was then that they were receiving a call from the black, orange striped fighter that had destroyed the alien fighters that were pursuing Dita. The two looked and Dita beamed at the sight that greeted them, it was the other male alien that she had met with Mr. Alien before, the same one that helped her when she was stuck back in the Ikazuchi.

"Mr. Other Alien! It's nice to see you!" she greeted.

If it wasn't for the visor on the helmet Dita would have seen the tick mark over Seth's eye at the annoying nickname she gave him.

"I already told you to not call me that. The name's Seth Reager. Anyways where's your other comrade that was with you?"

"Miss Gasco? She's back at that alien wreckage and she's stuck!" Dita responded.

"Alright. Hibiki I heard that there's an asteroid on a collision course with the ship. Head back and take care of it while I recover the other person." Seth ordered.

"Who are you to give me orders?!" Hibiki protested. Unfortunately his protest fell on deaf ears when the Alpinia sped off in the direction where the alien wreck was.

…

Gascogne was definitely not liking her situation as it unfolded in front of her. The machine began to efficiently cut away the tendrils that held her. She knew that it was only doing so to get to her.

"You guys work pretty efficiently." she began, trying to smile in this time of crisis. "We could use some hard workers like you."

Gasco tried to sound confident which was a sharp contrast to the fear she was feeling as the automaton came closer to her.

The machine ignored her as it cast another prong aside as it simply extended a massive wicked looking appendage and stretched it towards her.

By now, Gascogne was sweating. "So it's finally my turn, huh?"

However, the automaton couldn't reach her, as the thing was suddenly ripped into by a laser barrage, tearing it into pieces. Gascogne looked up and saw the Alpinia show up in front of her along with the Option Phantoms. One of them fired a concentrated laser shoot which cut through her bindings making her sigh with relief, but she was not expecting the Gradian to show up to rescue her. The cockpit opened and Seth floated towards her in his flight suit which also doubled as a space suit.

"Are you alright?" Seth asked as he pulled the woman out.

"I'm fine thanks to you. Though I would have appreciated it if you came sooner." Gascogne smiled.

"Well I'm here now, does it matter?" Seth said as they both floated back towards the Alpinia.

"Are you sure we can both fit?" Gascogne asked. Her answer came when the pilot seat moved forward and another seat came up.

"Does that answer your question?" Seth deadpanned.

"Yes it does." The woman replied. Both got into the seats and the cockpit closed and the Alpinia quickly flew back towards the ship.

"Never thought I'd ride inside one of the legendary Gradius fighters." Gascogne commented.

"Well they're not legends. They are real and still in use." Seth replied.

**...**

"We've managed to secure up to thirty-six bypasses over here." Parfet announced as she typed on her computer, "How about you?"

Duero was working on Pyoro, leaning over its opened stomach with a power tool in hand.

"Not much else I can do here. We'll have to make do with what we have." he said as he continued to work.

"No way! We'll throw the balance ratio off completely if there aren't enough detours!" Parfet complained.

Duero looked back at the engineer leader.

"Do you know what doctors do in similar situations like this?" he asked.

"Huh?" she looked up as he smiled.

"We believe in our patient's will to live."

The female engineer smiled and nodded.

Pyoro became active once more, stood up on its feet and smartly saluted to both Duero and Parfet.

"Beep! I'm back in service!"

"Alright! We did it! The system is back to normal! Are we good or what?" Parfet whooped with joy as she reached out clasped Duero's hand in her own, then she looked down at both their hands for a moment and blushed as she gazed briefly at the doctor.

Duero also felt odd as he was torn between gazing at his hand held in Parfet's own and her face.

**...**

In the bridge power suddenly came back and the system rebooted. With that confirmed Magno gave the order to Bart to move the ship.

Fortunately Bart didn't have to as the asteroid was suddenly vaporized and in its place was the Vanguard in front of the ship.

"Hmph! So he saves the day once again!" Bart said with disdain. It was then that Seth appeared on the comm-link.

"Instead of being a colossal asshole be thankful that the brat saved your ass!"

…

Emerging from the nebula cloud, the now fully fused ship made its way through space in a light blue and silver color scheme and looking more slipstream and refined.

BC enters the bridge with Magno sitting in her seat.

"The captain and I just concluded our meeting." BC explained over the intercom. "We've decided to inform the entire crew on our current situation. Upon analyzing the data we retrieved from the enemy wreckage we gathered some intelligence about our enemy. I'd like you all to take a look at this image."

An image of a brown barren planet that was surrounded by a transparent yellow sphere with black gear-like objects on it showed up.

"This is the enemy's home planet. We don't know its exact location but they seem to have quite a lot of firepower." she continued, "We are currently in this enemy's territory and they are attacking us because they believe our presence to be hostile. For this reason, we expect more battles with this enemy to occur during our return to Mejerian space. We've also learned something else from the data, our enemy is about to launch a full scale operation which calls upon the destruction of our home world Mejere as well as the male's world of Tarak. Our faceless enemy is for some unknown reason is planning for the complete annihilation of our home planets!"

_'So that's where the enemy comes from. Gradius would love to see this.' _Seth thought as he saw the images.

Then the captain took over.

"We are pirates and as such our loyalties are not bound to either Mejere or Tarak. However, it would not be in our best interests for this unknown and hostile force to wipe out our potential customers. Therefore, I plan to reach our home system before the enemy does and inform both our worlds of this crisis. In order for this mission to be successful, we must incorporate the men we have captured into our crew. That includes the Gradian pilot Seth Reager with his space fighter, The Alpinia."

The whole crew was shocked by that statement.

"Heh. So you finally see things my way." Bart said, smiling smugly as he lied on the floor with his back near the navigational well.

"There are many things that we don't understand, such as this ship and that large machine." Magno continued, "But I'm sure we will learn about these one day at a time as we continue on our journey. I expect the full cooperation of the entire crew. That is all!"

As soon as she shut off the comm-link Ezra, Duero, and the two guards entered the bridge. As soon as the ship's systems were in full operational condition, Duero returned to the medical bay and finished his examination of Ezra's odd condition.

"I'm sorry I was down before." Ezra apologized as gave a short bow to the old woman. "I'll be returning to my station now."

"So did you find the cause of Ezra's fever?" BC asked the Tarak doctor.

Ezra wrung her hands nervously.

"Well…you see…the reason is…" she started but Duero interrupted her.

"There appears to be some sort of parasitic organism feeding off my patient's body internally."

That statement alarmed Magno as she looked at the gentle woman, but Ezra shook her head while trying to hide her blushing face.

"No! You're mistaken!" she quickly corrected before turning back to the rest of the bridge crew, "Well…you see. It seems… I'm going to have a baby!"

Magno relaxed when she heard that statement and smiled at Ezra, while Belvedere, Amarone, the rest of the bridge crew, and even the two guards became very excited and squealed with delight as they crowded around the soon mother-to-be.

"Ezra, when in the world did you become a fahma?!" Belvedere asked with joy coating her voice.

"So who's the ohma?!" Amarone asked with equal joy.

All this naturally confused Bart, as he was not aware of the birthing methods on the home planet of the women. "But I thought that babies were born in a factory."

Duero also pondered this information for a moment. "Come to think of it, I have heard a rumor that females reproduced internally."

Ezra turned her head at Magno. "Captain please forgive me. I'm sorry, I was planning to tell you after we finished the raid on the men before, but…"

Magno smiled gently at her. "There's nothing to apologize for, Ezra. I hope that you have a healthy baby."

"Jeez Ezra, why didn't you say something before?" Amarone asked while relieved.

"C'mon Ezra tell us! Who's the ohma?" Belvedere asked her eagerly.

"What is that exactly?" Duero asked with genuine interest.

The three women looked at Duero.

"The ohma is the one who donates the egg and the fahma is the one who nurtures it in her womb. Don't you know anything?" Belvedere asked the doctor.

"This is the first time I've heard of it." Duero admitted.

"We certainly have our share of things to be surprised about today, right BC?" Magno asked her first mate.

"Err…yes! Certainly Captain!" BC answered in surprise.

"The whole crew will have to work as hard as they can, especially for the new life that will be joining us." the old pirate said with a small smile.

"Right. It appears this is going to be an interesting trip." Buzam added.

"Yes, it will be a long journey indeed." Magno nodded.

…

"Jura..."

"Barnette..."

"Have we been forgotten?"

"Feels like it..."

The two women groaned. The elevator was stuck up at the ceiling, squishing the two women together as their stuff was torn up, with some destroyed. Suddenly, the elevator jerked, and began to slowly descend down, much to Jura and Barnett's relief.

"Yes! We're saved!" Jura exclaimed, hugging Barnette tightly, "When I see the person that did this, I will give them a big hug, and…"

Jura's words had ceased when she saw a pair of blank eyes staring right back at her. She recognized this man to be the Gradius pilot, for she had seen him in the Ikazuchi earlier before they had been flung all the way here.

"No wonder I heard voices. It was you two after all, consider yourselves lucky I was passing through." Seth said, as he turned his back and left. As he walked away both women stared at the Gradian's back.

"Barnette..."

"Yes?"

"It seems...that I own him a big hug..."

* * *

**Chapter 3 End. **

**It seems that Gradius is not on good terms with Mejere and Tarak and for reasons Seth, Magno and BC don't want to talk about. Though you'll find out later as someone will have to spill. Also Gradius also wants info on the Harvesters for some reason which Seth knows.**


	5. Like I'd work with you!

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. **

**Chapter V: Like I'd work with you!**

* * *

It had been a week since the captain's announcement to assimilate the male prisoners of Tarak and the Gradius pilot into their crew. Of course the Mejerian crew of women were shocked by this news and did not approve of the additions but since their Captain ordered it they had to obey though with reluctance.

Duero proved himself as a doctor and aided the women no matter what and was made the crew's chief medical officer. He was also open minded and calm about the situation he was in.

Bart became the helmsman of the ship since he was the only person who could get it to work anyways for some reason. Apart from being cautious around the women, he was unusually talkative around Magno and BC.

Hibiki, while brash and arrogant, was capable of piloting the Vanguard unit and so was assigned to work with the Dread Squadron.

Finally there was Seth Reager, the pilot who was basically a one-man squadron which he showed in their first battle with the enemy when he shot down formations of them all without sustaining any damage. The man mostly kept to himself and was mostly neutral towards the crew though some of them felt that could change soon since they knew about his planet Gradius, and he could mostly be found in the hangar, his room, or the bridge.

**...**

Seth woke up to a soft bed in his new room instead of the inside of his ship like he'd been used to. Feeling rejuvenated he went on the usual routine of some push ups, brushing, showering and changing to a new set of clothes but still kept his flight suit on top of it. Never know when you'll have to sortie. After picking up his toolbox Seth exited his room for the hangar. As he walked down the corridors he thought about the some things.

First was the subtle changes to the Alpinia. While he hadn't seen any exterior changes to the space fighter he noticed some interior ones as he noticed a crystallized overlay in the cockpit and near the controls. Second was the enemy which he now knew as the Harvesters. The same enemies had once attacked Gradius for unknown reasons but the enemy failed as they had underestimated the Gradians and also forgotten that they had fought a tougher enemy than them which were the Bacterians. It also seemed that he and the crew were in the Harvesters' territory now and so there were a lot of battles to be expected.

As Seth walked past some of the women's rooms he saw some of them come out in provocative clothing that caused him to not only raise his eyebrows but also caused a certain part of him begin to react but was quickly suppressed and he continued walking, ignoring the looks and whispers from the women that had seen him. Like he cares about what they talk about.

Suddenly he hears someone scream which prompts him to draw out his Glock 17 and rush towards where the scream came from which was the men's section. Seth arrived just in time to see Dita being thrown out of the 'men's bathroom' before the door closes and the electronic lock kicks in.

"Why can't I stay and watch Mr. Alien?" Dita asked after the door locked.

"HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO GO WITH YOU WATCHING?!" Hibiki yelled back.

Dita sighed in disappointment.

Seth just face palmed and sighed at what he saw. Someone just didn't know about respecting privacy.

As he was about to leave he heard footsteps approaching him and saw that it was Dita.

"Hello Mr. Other Alien! Could I ask you something?"

"I already told you my name is Seth, please get it right." Seth frowned, "So what do you want to know?"

"Well I heard a rumor from Belvedere and a fellow crew member about a tube stuck between Mr. Alien's legs and checked to see if he really had it." Dita replied.

Seth sweat dropped at this as he figured out what she meant. _'So she invaded Hibiki's privacy because of some stupid rumor? What's wrong with this girl?'_

He wasted no time walking away from her while saying, "That's for when you're more mature." over his shoulder.

**...**

"Excuse me!" Parfet announced through a megaphone. "I'm sure we can all agree that the Ikazuchi is a lousy name so I'm compiling a list of possible names that will suit the ship a lot better!"

She then noticed Jura and Barnette coming toward her and put away the megaphone before continuing.

"And whoever comes up with the name that we decide on the lucky winner will receive a year's worth of food certificates that you can redeem at the Trapeza!" Parfet finished with a cheerful chuckle as she held out the coupons for the two women to see.

Jura was naturally surprised at the statement and showed it too.

"A year's worth?! Are serious Parfet?"

Barnette stared at one of the names listed on the Navi-bot's screen.

"What's this? The 'Nirvana'? That's real corny."

"The commander came up with that one." Parfet whispered to Barnette.

"How are you able to keep track of all these names anyway?" Barnette asked.

"I just install them into my new friend Pyoro here." The engineer replied.

Jura and Barnette blinked.

"Pyoro?" Jura questioned.

"It was Miss Parfet who gave me my new name. It's a really good name isn't it?" The robot now named Pyoro asked.

Jura just sighed as she made up her mind on what her contribution would be.

"Well then the Luxury Night is my contribution. You'll put that in for me won't you Pyoro?"

Barnette managed to quickly type in the suggestion for the ship's name before Jura dragged her off.

_"Luxury Night?"_ Pyoro mumbled as it reviewed the name Barnette typed in. By the time he called out for Jura and Barnette they were already gone.

**...**

In the medical bay, Duero gazed in interest at the image he was viewing.

"Peculiar… this organ doesn't even exist in a man's physiology." he remarked as he further studied the computer display showing the gestating baby within Ezra.

"It's called a uterus." Ezra explained.

"Hmmm… a reproductive organ… very interesting."

Ezra rested on the bed comfortably, as she began to further explain to Duero. "I wanted to have a baby you see, so I decided to carry the seed."

This made the young doctor even more curious.

"What's the seed?" he asked.

"It's when an ohma donates an egg and has it spliced with the genes of the fahma. Then it is implanted into the fahma's womb to be nurtured and to grow. Where I come from, anyone who wants to be a fahma can be one." she explained.

"Hmmm….I see. So that means I can become one as well?"

Ezra developed an uncertain expression as she tried to find a way to explain things to the doctor.

**...**

Meanwhile in another section of the ship, BC had just finished loading data cards into two message pods and programming the security protocols and coordinates. She was then suddenly contacted by the captain via comm-link with a holo screen appearing behind her.

"BC?"

BC looked up at the captain's image to answer.

"Yes Captain, the message pod is ready for launch Captain."

"I see...but why is there another pod BC?" Magno asked as she'd noticed the second message pod.

"Well, this one is for Tarak, Captain. I thought it would be prudent to warn the men of this crisis as well, considering that they are also the enemy's target." BC explained.

Magno considered BC's explanation for a moment, and then agreed with her plan, as the men too were targeted.

"Very well, launch the pods."

"Yes Captain, launching the pods now."

BC launched the two message pods out of the ship as they sped towards their designated coordinates of the distant planets of Tarak and Mejere. However, just as the message pods seemed to be in the clear, they went up in a pair of explosions. The culprits were a quartet of cube fighters.

"All hands to battle stations!" Magno ordered.

The alarms were going all out throughout the ship, as dread pilots and Hibiki scrambled to respond to the incoming threats. When they reached the hangar Meia and Jura spotted Dita standing in there staring outside.

"Dita what are you doing? Get to your dread!" Meia ordered out.

Dita turned and spoke to her and the others.

"It's just that Mr. Other Alien flew right out of here! WHOOOSH! He was so fast!" she explained excitedly as she spun like a ballerina to emphasize her point.

"What?! Seth's out there already?!" Jura exclaimed in surprise.

"He's a man so he should be able to handle this." Hibiki said smugly, "Watch how it's done."

…

Outside in space The Alpinia sped towards the incoming enemy.

_'Just four they sent? Either the Harvesters are morons or...' _Seth thought before he focused on the task at hand.

He fired two Psycom missiles destroying two Cube fighters and then finished the other two off with a well-placed charged laser shot.

"Seth here. I've taken care of our uninvited guests. Returning to ship." Seth reported as he turned the Alpinia around and flew back to the ship. When he landed he removed his helmet and climbed out of his fighter while still in thought.

_'Looks like that was a recon team sent to gather intel on us. Good thing I took them out.' _

Seth looked up to see an angry Meia, a nervous Dita, an impressed Hibiki and other dread pilots.

"Is there a problem here?" Seth asked the angry woman.

"What do you think you were doing out there?" Meia asked.

"My job." Seth replied bluntly.

"Don't give me that! You put yourself in a lot of danger! You are only to follow my direct orders!" Meia snapped at him.

"Your orders? Sorry but it was the Captain who gave the order for everyone to scramble for battle not you and I followed that order. So I don't see the problem here." Seth explained.

"Yeah! He defended the ship so why are you giving him flak for it?" Hibiki spoke up. Meia was about to tell him off but Seth beat her to it.

"I can speak for myself brat, so shut up!" Seth said, surprising the Vanguard pilot, "And it's not like you could have done any better! With your attitude you would have acted a fool out there and made an unnecessary show out of it!"

The youth of course got annoyed and stormed off from the hangar bay.

"Fine! Be that way! I was just defending you by the way!" Hibiki said as he left the hangar.

_'Like I ever needed you to defend me.' _Seth thought before focusing on Meia, "You forgot another thing Meia, I'm not even part of your Dread squadron so you can't give me orders either."

"I'm still your superior officer!" Meia said.

"The only superior officers in this ship I'm taking orders from are the Captain and BC as far as I'm concerned, so don't push your luck!" Seth said as he turned, "Now if that's all I'll be leaving."

Meia stood there momentarily stunned as Seth walked towards the hangar entrance, then she started to quiver with rage.

"Stop! I'm not done talking to you yet!" Meia yelled, but Seth showed no signs of stopping, "Look at me when I'm talking to you! I'm your superior on this ship and I order you to stop!"

Still Seth completely ignored her as he left the hangar.

Meia stood where she was, utterly speechless. She had been embarrassed and completely ignored by the Gradian. By the time she had recovered, Seth was already gone.

**...**

"I saved you guys so you could at least listen to me when I ask you for a favor! Isn't that how the world goes around?" Hibiki said as he talked with Magno in the bridge.

"Is that so? Alright then, what is it you would like me to do for you?" Magno asked in mock interest.

"Well first of all, do something about that crazy girl, the one that keeps bugging me about all that alien stuff!" Hibiki requested.

"Oh that must be Dita." the captain mused aloud.

Hibiki continued, "Also that other creepy girl, the one with the weird thing over her eye, tell her to should just mind her own business."

Bart was sitting at the portal listening in the conversation.

"Negotiation is… just not his forte." he muttered.

Magno thought for a moment with a hum before coming up with an idea. "Alright then how about we assign you to the Reg Central."

"The Reg Central?" Hibiki repeated curiously.

"It's an interesting job and it's under different management." Magno explained with a knowing smirk.

"Different management huh?" Hibiki asked with a cocky smile, "Sounds pretty good to me!"

With that said Hibiki left the bridge.

Magno then looked down to her console. "Well, what do you think of that?"

Suddenly Meia's appeared on a small screen and looking very satisfied. "That's perfect and thank you very much Captain." she replied gratefully.

"We'll leave that young man in Gascogne's capable hands." Magno said.

"That's good. Having a man with us acting on his own could damage the morale of others. And while we're on the subject I'd like to make another request Captain, it concerns the Gradius pilot."

"Oh? What about him?" Magno asked curiously as she already knew whom Meia was referring to.

"I would like him transferred to the Dread team as we can't have him operating on his own."

"Well that's a surprise. What brought on this decision?"

Magno of course knew Meia was talking about Seth who had just ended up on the woman's shit list and wanted to put in his place. It was bad enough to Meia that he had free reign around the ship without being watched, but him doing as he pleased and snubbing her authority was something that she couldn't allow to stand, even if he was a more skilled pilot.

"I admit that Seth is a skilled pilot...however he's arrogant, ignores orders and doesn't watch his back. I feel that with him in the Dread team he would boost our firepower and at the same time, he could learn about teamwork and respecting authority." Meia explained.

"I see your point Meia, but are you sure about this? Having someone like Seth, a Gradian no less, working with your squad when he's used to working solo?" Magno asked.

"I'm sure Captain. Who knows we may all end up getting along well." Meia smiled as she was already planning to show that man his place, even if he's from Gradius.

As soon as Meia signed off Magno leaned back into her chair and let out a slight chuckle and an amused smirk. "Never changes, stubborn as a mule that one." she noted wryly.

"That's not a very nice thing to say about someone." Bart mumbled after hearing that.

"How long are you going to keep eavesdropping!?" The captain yelled to Bart.

Bart jumped up slightly and yelped in shocked surprise.

"Right, I'm going!" he yelled hurriedly, sliding back into the helmsman portal Bart set this ship's autopilot system.

"Sheesh, why do I get all of the flak?" he wondered aloud to himself before leaping back out of the portal and saluting the captain.

"Switched to autopilot, I'm going on break!" he said sheepishly with a smart salute before sprinting out of the bridge.

**...**

Hibiki arrived at Reg Central a little excited to be somewhere else where he wouldn't have to put up with Meia.

As the door slid open Hibiki entered eagerly.

"So this is the place! Reg Central, Ahhhhh!"

Shocked and taken aback he momentarily froze where he stood. The large room he had entered was dominated by two tables running down its length. On each of the tables were a number of computer terminals and standing behind each terminal in a weird frilly outfit were women.

Hibiki's confusing was further compounded as all the women turned towards him as one and bowed.

"Welcome to Reg Central!" they chanted in unison with smiles on their faces.

_'What is this place and what do they do here?!'_ he thought nervously.

**...**

Inside the cafeteria Seth was just enjoying his brunch comprising of pancakes, bacon, eggs and water while trying to keep his mind off Meia, that arrogant twat that reminded him of the arrogant fucks at Gradius Academy who thought they could push him around because he was an ex-con. Well he showed them when he made them look foolish, or put them in full body casts. Especially the last fool who tried before the others got the message.

_**Flashback_**_

_"Hey ex-con! Clean my boots!" _

_"..."_

_"Didn't you hear me ex-con?! I said clean my boots!"_

_"..."_

_"Listen to your betters damn it! What are you, deaf?!"_

_"..."_

_Tired of being ignored the guy put his hand on Seth's shoulder, which he got him a reaction, but not the one he was expecting. Seth threw the guy over his shoulders and proceeded to beat him senseless until some other academy students saw this and managed to break them up. Needless to say the guy they saved was going to need stitches, fillings and a full body cast for his injuries inflicted by Seth Reager._

_"Let this be a message to you arrogant fucks that want to mess with me. The next fucks that try will get worse than this." Seth warned before he left the room._

_**Flashback End_**_

When he had finished eating Seth got an uninvited guest sitting in front of him, Meia and she had a rather unfriendly smile directed at him, which reminded him of those same fucks at Gradius.

"What the hell do you want Meia?" he asked rudely as he didn't want to deal with this woman right now.

"I've spoken with the captain and you have been assigned to the Dread teams." Meia stated neutrally with a subtle smugness to it while ignoring his rude remark.

"May I know why I was assigned to your unit?" Seth asked.

"Because we felt that it'll be better if you worked with others than be left to your own devices." Meia replied.

_**'BULLSHIT!' **_Seth thought as he saw her looking at him almost expectantly and knew what was coming next. Sadly for her he was not going to let her get what she wanted.

Meia slid a datapad over to Seth which he picked up and looked at.

"And what is this meant to be?" Seth asked as he sipped water from his cup.

"Your first job as a member of the Dread team which is to give this list of our requisition order to Gascogne Rheingau of Reg Central." Meia said as she got up to leave, only to get the data pad smacking her right in the face and knocking her down and also shocking the other women in the cafeteria.

"Do it yourself! I'm not your freaking errand boy!" Seth said as he stood up and walked out of the cafeteria leaving a lot of shocked people behind. Meia recovered and chased after him but as soon as she got into the hallway he was gone and she was pissed and embarrassed because Seth once again snubbed her authority and made a fool of her.

Soon Seth stormed into the bridge setting the bridge operators on edge as he walked up to Magno and needless to say, he was in a foul mood.

"What's the big idea assigning me to that woman's unit?!"

"Oh you mean Meia?"

"No, I mean the woman with aqua blue hair that wears white and black and is a major control freak. OF COURSE I MEAN MEIA!"

"She presented a valid reason to have you assigned to the Dread teams and I also thought that you working with the others could help create some trust considering our homes' not so great history."

"Good idea but bad execution. While I understand your intentions, assigning me to that arrogant woman's team was the wrong way to go about it as it's clear that she doesn't like me one bit and the feeling's mutual. She thought she could abuse her authority and order me around like I was some errand boy, needless to say I didn't go along with such bullshit."

Seth's expression then darkened, "Also don't tell me that you forgot about our deal earlier, I'd only followed orders made of your own mind not influenced by anyone on this ship and it looked like Meia had a hand in that decision to have me assigned to her team."

Magno's face turned serious in return, "I said that she presented a valid reason to have you assigned to the Dread teams if not I would have outright turned her idea down. Even when she presented such reason I had to think about it too and as a captain I weighed the pros and cons of such a decision and saw that the pros outweighed the cons which is why I made such a decision. Besides I know that you've worked with a squad before which is also another reason why I thought it could work."

"You're right about me working with a squad before but that is also the reason why I work solo because most of those squads were full of arrogant twats who acted just like Meia." Seth said neutrally.

"So there was a squad you were able to work with?" Magno asked.

"Yes, and it was the last squad I worked with. There was no leader as we all worked together to accomplish a very important mission but it was a squad I despised even more than those other squads. The reason being very personal on many levels." Seth grimly explained.

"I understand." The captain replied as she could see that they were going into uncharted territory. "I won't ask any more unless you want to answer. Still at least give working with the Dread teams a chance, who knows you may like working with them and they may warm up to you, and if you still don't like it I'll let you work solo once again. Deal?"

"Deal. But only because I respect you enough Captain."

**...**

Seth made his way to the one other place he hadn't checked out, Reg Central. Since that's the place for requisitions, supplies and all sorts for the crew, he decided to make himself familiar with it and the people there.

Meanwhile Hibiki found himself dressed in a certain outfit, complete with certain "assets". For the past hour he had been trying to get a feel for work in the Reg central and needless to say...it wasn't going well for him.

"Uh…W-Welcome! This is our e-easy to r-read menu…uh…we highly recommend the Kamikaze set! The regular menu consists of…" Hibiki stuttered nervously.

Finally he had had enough as bit the tip of his tongue in embarrassment and lost it.

"There is no way I can do this stuff!" he shouted as he tossed the data pad he was holding sending it bouncing across the room.

"But you were doing it fine!" The three women who were helping him encouraged.

Hibiki then leaned aggressively toward the women causing them cringe back in fear.

"What the hell am I doing here?! What's a Kamikaze set supposed to be anyway?! I don't get this!" he yelled furiously at three women who clustered together in shock at the anger in his voice. Just as he was about to start again a paper ball to the side of his head stopped him. He turned to see a scowling Seth at the looking at him.

"You're too loud. Turn the volume down brat." Seth said as he walked in, "And by the way...nice outfit."

The youth glared at him but the mercenary ignored him just as a new voice spoke up.

"Thanks for shutting him up and by the way kid the Kamikaze set is a load of bombs and enough fuel for one way trips."

Both males looked at the newcomer as the three women shuffled away from view. She was tall and broader than most of the women he had seen. Unlike the others, she was dressed in dark trousers, with a short sleeved tan shirt with flaring shoulder pads. Seth remembered her as the same woman he helped rescue from the alien wreckage earlier.

"It was developed with men in mind." she finished with an easygoing smirk.

"Interesting stuff." Seth said sarcastically, "By the way nice to see you again Miss Gascogne."

"Likewise Seth Reager." Gascogne replied with her head tilted at him in slight surprise. For some reason he seemed familiar. "Also nice to see you got my name right too. Something I've been trying to get the others to do but with little success."

"That's because they're mostly idiots." Seth said bluntly, "It's common sense to get someone's name right when they tell you."

"That's pretty harsh."

"I say it as it is. No point sugarcoating things."

"So you're the boss of this place?" Hibiki rudely interrupted, "What kind of place is this? All you do is sit around and smile!"

"We see our friends off with a smile in Reg. It's the most important job here." Gascogne responded.

"Important! What's so great about working here?! Geez, this is really pissing me off!" Hibiki ranted but suddenly stopped as the woman moved forward to stand in front of him.

"It is a very important job! Don't think for a second that the pilots are flying all on their own out there. The only reason they can fight in the first place is because of all the support they get from here. You see, they're the actors and we're the stage hands." Gascogne explained.

"Stage hands…?" Hibiki questioned.

"Those who work behind the scenes to ensure that everything go according to plan." Seth answered.

"Exactly. For a lone wolf you seem to already know about this kind of work." Gascogne said.

"Comes with experience in working with others, even when you don't like them." Seth stated with a dark expression.

Both Gascogne and Hibiki looked at him in understanding as each knew exactly what he meant.

**...**

Parfet and her companion the Navi-bot Pyoro explored the other sections of the men's side of the ship. The two of them had come across one of the food storage compartments which fell on top of them with Parfet on the floor buried waist-deep and gazing at the massive flood of variously colored nutrition pills.

"WAAAHHHH! What is all this stuff?!" Parfet shouted.

"This is food from Tarak." Pyoro explained to the young brunette while its head was buried.

"Really? This is food? Men eat this?!" Parfet asked with bewilderment as she had a hard time believing that anyone would actually eat these pills.

Pyoro was eventually able pull its head free of the pile before it continued to explain.

"One tablet has enough nutrition to insure a full three hundred hours of labor."

"Oh!" Parfet exclaimed as she picked up and examined one of the pellets, amazed that something so small could do so much.

Just then Dita peered in and saw the two.

"Oh hi Parfet, have you seen Mr. Alien around lately?" she asked.

"I heard he was assigned to Reg Central." Parfet replied after turning to her.

"To Reg…?" Dita mumbled. Then she noticed the multi-colored tablet. "Hey what's that?"

"Pyoro was just telling me that this is alien food." Parfet explained.

"Really?!" Dita beamed excitedly. She then knelt down and took one of the pellets curiously before popping it into her mouth.

"Wait! You're eating it?!" Parfet yelled in surprise while watching Dita chew.

She didn't have long to wait as Dita immediately grimaced and spat out the pellet and stuck her tongue out as her tongue's taste buds were subjected to the pellet's foul flavor.

"Blah!"

"Well…?"

"Ewww! I can't believe they eat this stuff! Poor Mr. Aliens!"

"I don't think Seth Reager eats this stuff since he's from Gradius." Pyoro pointed out.

Dita then perked up and smiled as she thought up an idea on how to get closer to the two aliens.

"I know!" she shouted enthusiastically before springing to her feet and started to head for her destination.

"Hey, wait a minute! What about a name for the ship?" Parfet called frantically.

Dita turned to her with a smile and gave her suggestion.

"How about Roswell?"

**...**

"This is the women's world? Don't you think it looks kind of gaudy?" Hibiki blurted out loud while Seth silently observed the small white sphere that Gascogne used to show the planet Mejere.

"Sure does. It's a real clean and beautiful place though. Don't get me wrong, I hate how everything is so superficial." Gascogne said with disgust.

_'Not a surprise considering the arrogant and stuck up bitches there.' _Seth thought as he had already knew about _that planet _when he was still at Gradius. He and the other Gradians saw the Mejerian women as wasteful fools with so much vanity. Gradian women felt ashamed to be in the same species as those very women.

"Mejere is a world where everyone is friendly to each other and everyone is having fun." Gascogne continued, "But that's only on the surface. Most of the women love showing themselves off."

The image magnified to some of the towers showing them to be covered in lights.

"They do stupid stuff like competing with their neighbors at who has a better 'garden'. They're usually wasting energy on stuff like that. Because of that it got so bad that one our residential units had to be shutdown to conserve power."

The lights on the towers died suddenly, leaving them looking cold and dead.

"Our captain was one of those that lost her home and nowhere else to go. That's when she started up this pirate gig with all of us. And gathered up others like us, who had either lost their homes or didn't fit into Mejere's society and made a new home along with us."

The image now changed to a recording of a Mejerian frigate that looked just like the old pirate ship used to be before it merged with the Ikazuchi and became the ship it is now. It showed the ship attaching itself to the side of a Tarakan ship with its crew boarding it.

"For us pirates, there's no difference between men and women. That's why we spared all of your lives. If we had been the real Mejerian army you would have all been dead before you even spit out the word please." Gascogne finished. At the same time the recording finished with the Mejerian ship detaching and leaving the Tarakan ship to blow up from multiple explosions which were undoubtable the result of explosives, leaving floating globules of blood, dismembered limbs, and dead bodies floating in space.

Hibiki gulped at that while Seth scoffed, unimpressed at what he saw.

"Not everyone man Gascogne." Seth said as he simply glanced at the Reg Central leader. "You've seen me in action haven't you? Also your people have tried that stunt with Gradius ships and they ended up running with their tails between their legs or worse."

Gascogne looked at Seth. She knew that the women of Mejere had tried attacking Gradius ships in the past and failing badly due to that planet's advanced technology and superior combat abilities (whether on foot or in space). And she didn't want to even think about Gradius' pilots (male and female mind you) and space fighters, especially the Vic Viper, Lord British and others that have devastated Mejere's military. Especially that incident that still haunts the Mejerian women today.

"Yes, I suppose that would be true in your case Seth, since not everyone has fearsome space fighters like you guys on Gradius or are as skilled in combat."

Gascogne grabbed the sphere and shut off the images while looking at Hibiki.

"The way I figure it, you're just like us since you also have nowhere to go. On this ship there's one simple rule; you wanna eat, you work. You can complain all you want, but just make sure finish your work first." Gascogne said.

"So what's my job supposed to be anyway?" Hibiki asked only to have a mop pointed in his face.

"Just keep a smile on your face." Gascogne said with an amused expression. With a grimace Hibiki reached out to grasp the mop.

"Fine whatever." Hibiki muttered as he went to work as indicated.

"I take it that the video was for the brat's benefit?" Seth said as the youth was now at work.

"Obviously. He needed to know some important things." Gascogne said, "And I take it that you already know a lot about Mejere, considering our history with Gradius."

Seth shrugged his shoulders. "More than enough. They began teaching us at the academy about such history. Not the brightest one we have."

"Yes I know. But what's your own opinion?" Gascogne asked curiously before her face turned serious, "I'd like to know what you think especially when women from Mejere sent a video of them butchering a Gradian male and torturing a Gradian female to their son and telling him that he's next."

Seth paused for a while. After a moment of silence the Gradian answered, "Back when I was on Gradius I thought of Mejere to be full of monsters and were a disgrace to the human race just as much as Tarak, but I also found out that not every woman on that planet was the same so I knew better than to lump all the women together. As for what they did to the child all they did was sign their death warrants as it was the same kid that grew up to kill a large number of them and funny enough the ones who killed his parents were among his kills. Karma's one hell of a bitch isn't it?"

"You're definitely right about that." Gasco admitted giving a small laugh.

"So what brings you to Reg Central, Seth?" she asked curiously after a moment.

"Just trying to familiarize myself with this ship." Seth answered nonchalantly, "And also to keep away from a certain control freak on this ship."

Gasco gave Seth a questioning look. "Control Freak?"

"Meia." he said, "She somehow convinced the captain to have me transferred to the Dread teams and then she tried to order me around like I was her errand boy, just to get back at me for what happened in the hangar after dealing with that scouting party. Didn't turn out the way she wanted though."

"By that you mean tossing a data pad right in her face and knocking her down?" Gascogne asked.

Seth smirked, "Word travels around fast huh?"

"Obviously. And it also seems that Meia's on the warpath looking for you." Gascogne added.

"How convenient." Seth said sarcastically, "Whatever. See you later, Miss Gascogne."

"Just Gascogne would be fine. No need for the formalities."

"Sure."

Just as he turned to leave the alarm sounded making him curse and rush towards the hangar.

**...**

"Enemy ship detected! Distance three thousand G.R. Approaching at very high speed!" Amarone reported.

"Someone's in a hurry today. How many?" Magno muttered.

"There's just one on the scanner." Ezra replied which made the captain raise an eyebrow.

"Really? Just one?" Magno asked, "Getting cocky aren't we?"

"Distance is now twenty-five hundred, it's almost here!" Amarone warned.

Magno looked down at a communications panel. "Well young man, it's show time."

A few minutes later, Bart arrived running through the door and headed straight toward the navigation platform.

"Why did this ship have to be so freaking big!" he whined as he ran.

"Show us what you can do." Magno called out.

"Don't worry I'll show you my specialty, running away!" Bart answered back over his shoulder before he sank into the control pool.

Inside Bart let out a chuckle. "I'll take us to the end of the universe if I have to!"

The pirate ship suddenly increased its speed to leave the enemy unit in the dust, which caused it to promptly set off in pursuit. Despite the pirate ship going full speed, the enemy ship seemed to easily overtake them, and placed itself directly in their path forcing Bart to stop. Bart then tried to move the ship laterally from side to side, hoping to find a clear way to slip past. But the enemy ship moved effortlessly to block them.

"The unidentified enemy ship is maintaining a precious distance no matter where we move!"

"Bart! Try to stay on course! Launch the dreads! Prepare for combat!"

**...**

In the hangar the Dread teams and Seth wasted no time boarding their fighters while technicians were already preparing them for launch. Inside her dread Dita was humming to herself as she fondly patted the wrapped lunch box that she had made for Mr. Alien which was sitting in her lap.

Suddenly her dread's internal comm-link sounded signal her of an incoming transmission.

"You're late! Where were you?!" Meia demanded, getting the redhead's attention.

"Hmm? Is something wrong Meia?" Dita asked innocently.

"This isn't a game Dita! Being late could mean the difference between life and death!" her superior admonished harshly.

"I'm sorry Meia!" Dita apologized weakly.

"We'll try a formation attack, you got it? Focus only on the battle." Meia ordered.

"Err…Roger!" Dita responded with a salute trying to look professional and epically failing.

After seeing that all systems were green for the Alpinia, Seth got ready for launch but he got contacted by Meia.

"Yes what is it, _leader?" _Seth asked in annoyance.

"I want you to not get involved in this battle Seth." The Dread team leader spoke making the Gradian raise an eyebrow.

"May I know why?"

"I want to prove a point that's why."

Seth had an idea what she wanted to prove and needless to say he saw it as a foolish idea but considering her stubborn pride he had a feeling that arguing here wouldn't change things. Still he didn't mind humoring her so he could see her fail badly.

"By prove a point you mean save what's left of your bigoted Mejerian pride?" Seth mocked getting an angry growl in return, "Okay then, I'll humor you. Go prove your point."

Meia was surprised that the Gradian actually obeyed that order even though he had to take a jab at her pride. Still she'll prove that the women do not need the help of the men.

"That's all I ask." she said.

After closing the link Seth relaxed back in the Alpinia's cockpit as he watched the Dreads fly out to engage the enemy.

_'Incoming fail at 12 o'clock.' _Seth thought. _'Might as well enjoy the laugh it would give me.'_

**...**

Hibiki came out of the door to the back room in Reg Central, his register clothes discarded.

"Alright! It's time to go kick...ACK!"

His exit was abruptly caught short as a hand grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Stagehands aren't supposed to go out there with the actors." Gascogne deadpanned with an exasperated look on her face.

"What did you say?!" Hibiki growled as he struggled to get out of her grasp.

Meanwhile the register was full of activity as dread pilots and the Antares pilots placed their orders and register staff rushed to see them filled.

"Welcome to Reg Central! How can I help you?" One of the Reg staff girls asked with a smile.

"Could I have the A-set?" Barnette asked.

"The A-set? Certainly! Would you also like to add a few complimentary homing missiles to that order?" the girl recommended with a pose and a beaming smile.

Well, I really don't want to make the ship too heavy but sure why not? Add it on to the list would you?" Barnette answered with a carefree wave.

"Thank you very much!" the girl called.

"That's what us stagehands do. You got it pal?" Gascogne enlightened. "Here."

Gasco dropped Hibiki in a chair and then with a flick of a switch activated a set of restraints to hold him in place.

"What is this? What are you doing?!" Hibiki protested loudly.

"Your new here so today why don't you just take a load off and watch it works around here? Understood?"

**...**

While the Dreads were out in space, Seth looked through the monitor at the enemy that was in front of them and it was a sphere.

_'So the SOBs decided to send THIS after us? I want whatever it is they're smoking!' _Seth thought in amusement before turning serious, _'Jokes aside they wouldn't send a lone unit unless they were sure of it.'_

"Dread teams take your positions! We'll attack on my signal." Meia ordered.

"Roger!" The other Dread pilots acknowledged as they moved into their formations.

While this was happening the enemy sphere stayed in position doing nothing, at least according to the women, Seth however knew that was not the case.

_'The Harvesters wouldn't just send this thing to sit here and do nothing. It's obviously up to something or more like it's waiting for something or someone...' _he thought as he observed the sphere.

As if it was answering him, the enemy sphere's onboard AI scanned the crafts in front of it, sorting through each of them. With its objectives confirmed the sphere made its way towards its targets. As it approached, long purple tendrils suddenly emerged from the rounded protrusions that dotted its surface. For a moment they seemed to quiver like living things. Then they hardened, becoming a series of jagged razor sharp spikes that surrounded the sphere which made it look like a certain animal, and shocking some of the female pilots with its new appearance.

"A-A sea urchin?!" Jura gasped with wide eyes and looking thoroughly creeped out. "Are we seriously going to fight that thing?!"

"Jura, calm down." Meia ordered unfazed by the enemy, "Team leaders check and confirm your formations. All teams commence attack!"

"Roger!"

The dreads wasted no time diving into the attack. The dreads fired their lasers and missiles at it. However the enemy's spines became jagged and began rotating at high speeds, brushing aside their attacks and leaving it unharmed.

"No good! The spines blocked our shots. What do we do now?" Jura asked as she moved her dread away from the fray for move maneuvering room.

"This guy's a really bad alien!" Dita shouted.

Suddenly the spiky sphere surged towards the ship and managed to scratch the side of the ship. As it came for another pass the dreads came to intercept it with waves of missiles but the enemy easily brushed aside the attacks and continued its attack while the dreads were forced to pull away from the sphere and circle back to avoid a collision.

**...**

Seeing that the battle was only getting longer and the situation getting worse for the crew a certain male pilot decided that he'd seen enough and prepared for launch.

_'I've watched them fail enough. Time to end this before we all end up dead.' _

The engines of the black, orange striped fighter roared to life as the pilot flew into the raging battle in space.

**...**

The dreads continued with their assault on the enemy, but it just flew straight into their attacks and came out with not so much as a scratch and forcing the dreads to pull away to avoid a collision.

"That thing's way too fast!" Barnette panted as she was starting to feel the effects of the prolonged engagement.

In her cockpit Meia grimaced. She knew that Barnette was right, this thing was too fast and they weren't even able to touch it with their missiles. Suddenly Dita's face appeared on her cockpit display.

"Meia! Let's call the two aliens out here!" Dita called in from her communicator.

"The aliens?" Both Jura and Barnette slowly asked aloud in confusion.

"NO! They're one of our enemies because they are men! Don't forget that Dita!" Meia reprimanded.

"But they're good aliens, I know it!" Dita persisted.

"I told you before not to rely on the strength of others! This is our battle! WE'LL FIGHT ON OUR OWN!" Meia declared resolutely as she sent another volley of missiles at the sphere. But again these were deflected by the spikes and exploded, inflicting no damage to the sphere itself. Also the dreads were now running low on ammo.

"Miss Gasco, I have a delivery to go!" Barnette called out as she noticed that fact.

_'I won't ask for anyone's help! Namely from that…man!'_ Meia thought furiously as she thought about Seth.

Suddenly the enemy sphere got hit hard by twin charged laser blasts which spun it out of control, much to the surprise of Meia and the other dread pilots.

"What just happened?" Jura asked.

"I happened." answered a male voice as a familiar Gradius space fighter flew past them and towards the recovering enemy.

"It's Mr. Other Alien!" Dita cried out in joy at the sight of Seth.

"For crying out loud the name's Seth Reager!" Seth yelled back in irritation as he fired Psycom missiles at the enemy. It managed to recover in time and spin to deflect the missiles before firing its spines at the newcomer. The Alpinia wasted no time dodging the projectiles and returned fire with Psycom missiles and the Options and landed solid hits on the vulnerable enemy before it quickly grew back its protection.

"What are you doing here?! I thought I ordered you to stay back on the ship!" Meia demanded.

"I did stay back until I couldn't bear to watch you women continuously fail spectacularly, not to mention I had to cringe at your incompetence!" Seth replied as he deployed the Options and continued his attack on the enemy.

Meia gritted her teeth in anger at Seth defying her again and voiced it out, "I gave you a simple order to stay back and yet you can't even do that! We can handle this enemy by ourselves!"

"Not from where I was watching!" Seth replied as he dodged the spinning enemy's charge attack, "At the rate you're going you'd only waste ammo, time and lives while that thing kills us all. How you're the leader of this team is beyond me."

Hearing the alarm from his cockpit Seth managed to dodge another barrage of spikes before returning fire at the enemy and landing a few hits. After the spines recovered he pulled away from it to avoid a collision. Even though he knew how to defeat this thing it'll take a long time and a lot of ammo to do so.

"Also like Dita said we're going to need Hibiki and his Vanguard out here!" Seth added.

"Now listen here Seth, I earned my position as the leader and I don't need you lecturing me about anything! This is our fight and we don't need you or that man's help so as your superior I order you to return back to the ship!" Meia yelled.

_'That's it! I've had it with this bitch!' _Seth gritted his teeth in anger as he had run out of patience with the Mejerian pilot.

"You know what? How about you do us all a favor and die already huh?!" Seth snapped, shocking everyone, "I've had it with your fucking pride and arrogance! This is why there's no way in the nine hells I'd work with you! Either you have an epiphany and realize how much of a hypocrite and arrogant bitch you are or just SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU STUPID CUNT!" He cut off the transmission and focused his attention on the enemy not caring about how shocked the women were at his words.

Barnette was the first to recover as she called out to Meia, "Meia! Are you going to take that from him?"

That snapped Meia back to normal and she growled in anger about Seth's tongue lashing. "I'll deal with him later Barnette. For now everyone focus on the enemy!"

**...**

In the bridge of the fused ship everyone was looking in surprise after hearing Seth's verbal lashing of Meia especially his crude choice of words used. Magno face palmed as she saw that it was a bad idea to put the Gradian under Meia's command.

"He's quite the vocal one isn't he?" BC said in surprise as she'd never seen anyone verbally lash Meia like that before.

"He's definitely not afraid to speak his mind." Magno said worriedly, "And he's also run out of patience with Meia. I have a feeling that this could get worse after this is over."

"Should we keep an eye on them when this is over?" BC asked.

"Yes, we should." Magno answered.

…

In Reg Central, Hibiki continued to struggle against his restraints as he watched the battle going on out in space.

"Come on, this is so unfair! Somebody get me out of this thing!" he whined.

Then to his great surprise, the restraints suddenly retracted. He looked up to see Gascogne hold out her hand to him.

"Let's go, you're going to see what we stagehands do up close and personal." she said with a small smile much to Hibiki's confusion.

Later a vessel came out of the hull of the fused ship into the battle. The supply ship piloted by Gascogne, resembled a deep gray metallic beetle and was protected by high-density armor plate and had several grappling arms located on the undersides.

The delivery ship made its way through the battlefield to a group of functional dreads waiting to be resupplied. When the ship reached them, it slowed to a halt as the massive robotic arms from below the delivery ship took hold of the waiting dreads and brought them in close so that the ships could be rearmed and refueled.

"All right girls, let's get all this done in one go! 50 seconds tops!" Gascogne shouted as the resupplying began and then she contacted the Alpinia's pilot. "Hey Seth. You mind keeping the enemy away from us?"

"I don't. Besides he's too busy focusing on me." Seth replied as he dodged more spikes and returned fire at the sphere.

"That's true." Gascogne said as she returned to the resupplying procedure.

"This is what stagehands do?!" Hibiki asked incredulously as he watched what was going on.

"I told you that the pilots aren't fighting out there on their own, so do you believe me now?" Gasco asked with a shrug.

"Hopefully he does, for his own sake." Seth added.

Just then the console chimed in to show that Gascogne the dreads were now resupplied.

"Delivery complete. Give them hell, girls!" Gascogne said.

"I'm so full!" Dita cheered as she and the others were now back into the fight with the alien ship.

It was then that Hibiki noticed that there was still a shipment left.

"Hey you still have a shipment left in here!" Hibiki said.

"Oh is that so? Well we brought it out here so we might as well use it." Gascogne replied casually.

Hibiki was confused at first but he quickly put two and two together and smiled in triumph as he could now finally fight with the enemy.

"ALRIGHT! HERE I COME PARTNER!" he shouted and quickly ran out without another word.

The vanguard launched out of the supply ship's cargo bay and wasted no time joining the fight.

The dread pilots and the Gradian also noticed the new arrival.

"That machine!" gasped Jura and Barnette as they spotted the mech entering the fray.

"THAT'S RIGHT! HIBIKI'S HERE!" roared Hibiki as his Vanguard raced to engage the enemy.

"It's Mr. Alien!" Dita cheered as she spotted him.

In her own dread, Meia gritted her teeth in anger while Seth just had a faint smirk on his face.

_'Looks like the finale's about to come.' _he thought.

The enemy also noticed the Vanguard and turned its attention from the Alpinia to the mech, launching volley of crystalline bolts at the mech, with one knocking the vanguard's sword off and another one impaling it in the shoulder. At the same time the sphere got hit by a barrage of missiles and laser fire from behind.

"Don't turn your back on me asshole!" Seth yelled as he attacked once more and forced the enemy to back off.

"Why you...You're going to pay for that!" Hibiki bellowed in outrage and tried to resume its charge. But the vanguard refused to respond, remaining frozen in space. "Huh?! What's going on?! Move dammit!"

"Sheesh brat! That's what happens when you recklessly charge at an enemy like that." Seth scolded the teen.

"Shut up! It just got lucky, that's all!" Hibiki snapped back.

"You're lucky it disabled you instead of taking you out in one shot!" Seth also snapped then he contacted Dita. "Hey Dita! Are you there?"

"Yes Mr. Seth." Dita replied slightly surprised.

"Well at least you got my name right so that's an improvement." Seth said, "Anyways Dita, I want you and Hibiki to combine. We'll need the Vandread's firepower to finish this fight."

"Yay! All right Mr. Seth!" Dita cried in excitement at getting another chance to combine with Mr. Alien before rushing off towards the vanguard.

"Dita! Don't listen to him!" Meia ordered, but the redhead disregarded that as she flew towards the disabled Vanguard. Hibiki noticed the redhead's dread approaching and was none too happy about it but couldn't do much about it either.

The enemy however had other plans as it noticed the dread approaching the vanguard, knowing all too well about what would happen if they combined. It would be royally screwed! So it fired a barrage of spikes at the dread, with intention of stopping it from combining with the vanguard. However it did not count on Meia and Barnette's Dreads suddenly coming to intercept the attack and taking the hits instead, sending them hurdling to the side. Meia coincidentally towards the vanguard and Barnette towards...the Alpinia.

Seth heard the warning on his radar and looked up to see Barnette's Dread about to collide with him. But as he attempted to dodge the incoming ship a bright light engulfed the two ships. After a minute the light subsided to show a new machine in place.

It had a similar body frame of the Vandread formed by Hibiki and Dita but slimmer. The armor was colored dark violet with orange stripes along the arms. Its shoulder armor looked like wings and seemed to have some form of skirt armor. In its right hand was a large gun blade and on the palm of its left hand was an outlet for a plasma cannon. The mech overall looked like a Valkyrie ready for battle.

**...**

Inside the cockpit of the new mech, Barnette woke up wondering where she was as her vision focused on her surroundings. She saw that she was in some kind of cockpit but not the cockpit of her Dread. Looking around in confusion she feels her hands intertwined with someone else's and looks down to see that it was a male's. Also she noticed that she was sitting on the man's lap. Then a familiar male voice confirmed who it was that was in the cockpit with her.

"Let me guess, you're confused about this right? I'm in the same boat as you." Seth said in as much confusion as her.

Barnette of course began thrashing around in panic, "What's going on here? Why are we in the same ship? Why am I with you?"

"Somehow our fighters fused together to form something similar to the Vandread Dita and Hibiki made." Seth answered, "And I'd appreciate it if you quit thrashing around like that, you're only complicating things."

"Looks like you're in the same boat as us." Meia said as she showed up on the screen in front of them. And like them Meia had Hibiki on her lap and was very uncomfortable with it. The Vandread that she and Hibiki were in looked like a large and slender predatory bird with long talons and an avian head.

"Thank you Meia...for clarifying the obvious..." Seth said in a sarcastic tone while Meia narrowed her eyes at him and Hibiki and Barnette were about to run their mouths he before interrupting them all. "...but let's save the yelling match for later, AFTER we send that SOB to the scrapheap!"

As if to drive home his point both of their ships shuddered from being hit by the spiky enemy. Wasting no time both ships came to life as they pilots put aside their issues and got back into the fight and moved at incredible speeds, much to the shock and awe of the crew.

Both mechs chased after the enemy sphere which fired all its spikes in hope of stopping the two combined threats but to no avail as both combined mechs weaved through the barrage and were too fast for it until the Vandread appeared behind the enemy while the other mech appeared above it aiming its gun blade which was now in gun mode which was in the form of a sniper rifle.

"This is exactly…" Hibiki declared.

"…What I've been waiting for!" Meia finished.

"This is the end..." Barnette declared.

"...For you!" Seth finished.

The Vandread surged forward, ramming straight through the sphere while the other mech fired a powerful laser shot that pierced through it and left a huge hole, both attacks creating a cross. The result was the unfortunate enemy exploding in a spectacular display as it was destroyed and ending the battle.

_'That was surprisingly breathtaking. Never felt my adrenaline pump like that since Operation Solar Assault.' _Seth thought in relief. _'What more we have a new Vandread and now it seems that the Alpinia can fuse with these dreads. Not bad.' _He then felt Barnette elbowing him. "Yes, what is it Barnette?" he asked in annoyance.

"What is it?! How the hell do you defuse this machine? I don't want the others to see me like this! It's too embarrassing!" Barnette exclaimed.

"If I knew that I would have defused this thing a long time ago woman!" Seth growled in reply.

Fortunately for them they didn't have to figure that out as the mech defused and the pilots returned to the ship, with the same thing happening to the Vandread as it returned to the ship.

**...**

Meanwhile on the bridge of the pirate ship everyone let out a sigh at the aftermath of the battle.

"I'm glad that's over with!" Magno sighed with relief.

"Same here captain, though I didn't expect the Gradian's ship to be able to fuse with a dread like Hibiki's."

"I agree BC. It seems that man Seth is a lot more interesting than we expected."

Just then Parfet walked in carrying a large tool box that she carried with both hands.

"Hey, don't just leave the remains there! I think they might be really useful!" she informed looking between Magno and BC respectively.

BC just looked at her curiously wondering what she had in mind.

**...**

"This is so unfair!" Dita pouted after the battle was concluded, "Mr. Alien was only supposed to combine with me! And I would have loved to combine with Mr. Seth too."

"Hey… so that means… that my dread can also combine to form something elegant and beautiful too…" she mused as she had seen the new Vandread and the new mech. "Awesome!"

**...**

Later that day it was time to christen the ship.

"You want me to decide the ship's new name?" Magno asked as she got into contact with Parfet through the comm-link via Pyoro.

Parfet nodded as the Navi-robot showed the names suggested by the crew to her captain through his monitor.

"The entire crew contributed names to this list and we want you to pick one Captain!"

As she scanned the names, Magno spotted one that caught her eye.

"Hmmm...The Nirvana...? Not a bad suggestion. Who came up with that one?"

"It was the commander's idea!" Pyoro answered for her.

"Fine then. From now on, this ship will be called the Nirvana." Magno declared.

However Parfet was not thrilled at that.

"I should have known."

**...**

At the men's quarters, an exhausted Hibiki entered as Duero and Bart turned to see him arrive.

"Oh! So you're back." Bart observed.

Hibiki just ignored him and headed toward a nearby cot.

"Hey, what's with that Vanguard of yours anyway?" Bart asked but still didn't receive any answer.

"Are you alright?" Duero asked with concern which was also ignored by Hibiki as he sat down on the bed.

Bart then moved toward Hibiki holding a box of Bart's red and white "special tablets".

"Come on now cheer up!" Bart encouraged as he got down on one knee in front of Hibiki and held out a pill to him.

"I'm not in the mood for that." Hibiki replied tiredly.

"Really?" asked the surprised Bart.

Just then the door opened to reveal Dita and Pyoro standing in the doorway. She was carrying a blue bundle tied in knot.

"Oh Mr. Alien!" she called as she rushed toward Hibiki.

At the same time Bart was still trying to convince Hibiki to eat a pill.

"Come on now! Ah!" he pressed on but Hibiki was still unresponsive.

Dita quickly sat and snatched the pill out of Bart's hand and flicked away.

"Hey why did you that for?!" Bart cried in dismay at seeing the pill being sent to the floor.

"Here you go." Dita set the wrapped bundle on Hibiki's lap, unwrapped it, and took out a bento.

Then Pyoro cheerfully skipped to Hibiki and jumped up to pull his mouth wide open much to Hibiki's distress.

"Open your mouth! Aaahh!" Pyoro said as it widened Hibiki's jaw then Dita slipped a red vegetable on a toothpick into his mouth and taking the toothpick out.

"Now chew! Chew!" Pyoro ordered as it forcibly moved the boy's jaw from side to side.

"Swallow!" Pyoro instructed which Hibiki did.

After a moment Hibiki's expression was that of pure ecstasy at the taste of the food he just ate.

"What is this stuff?!" he asked eagerly as looked into the bento.

"Do you like it?" Dita asked.

Hibiki then promptly took the bento from her and began to chow down while holding it to his face.

Dita smiled, held up both her hands together, and moved closer to Hibiki.

"Mr. Alien, will you promise to combine with me and only me? Okay? Pleeeaasse!" she pleaded with puppy eyes.

Hibiki just looked at her with annoyance.

"Would ya stop calling Mr. Alien already?!" he irritably snapped after which he went straight back to munching then licking meal clean.

**...**

"So they named the ship _Nirvana_?" Seth muttered in amusement as he sat in the hangar with a bottle of water. "Paradise and Harmony huh? How interesting and ironic considering its crew."

The door to the hangar opened and Seth looked up only to groan in frustration as his least favorite person on the ship walked in and was looking around. Obviously for him he thought.

Meia walked into the hangar looking for the man she despised even more than Hibiki. The other engineers were avoiding eye contact with her so as to not draw her wrath towards them. It didn't take long for her to find her target as she saw Seth sitting on a bench while drinking water from a bottle without a care in the world. Once more that man had defied her again and worse he had verbally lashed out at her too during that last battle not to mention he was giving orders to her subordinate. Even though he did well during that last battle and had fused with Barnette's ship to assist in taking out the enemy, she still was not going to let his earlier insubordination slide and was going to deal with this man personally. She walked up to him and stood a few feet from him as the man finished taking another gulp from the bottle and was staring at the wall.

"Seth Reager." Meia said.

"Yes Meia? What do you want from me? Because if it's an apology for what I said to you then don't bother as you'll never get that from me, not to mention any form of respect." Seth responded without looking at her.

"Listen here! This is thrice you have disobeyed orders from your superior officer and I am tired of it! You act as if you own the place when you clearly don't. You forget that you're still our prisoner so you don't get to do as you please!" Meia angrily stated.

Seth looked at Meia with annoyance clear on his face and stood up to his feet.

"And you forget that your captain made me and the Tarakan men part of your crew. Also I'm not from Tarak so your BS doesn't apply to me and I recommend that you don't try to. I know that you only got me assigned to the Dread teams so that you could boss me around and try to put me in my place and unfortunately for you I've had enough of such BS."

The two glared at one another and Meia was getting even more annoyed by the way the Gradian looked at her. The feeling was mutual as Seth was getting tired of her bitchy and bossy attitude. He was no fan of authority figures due to his bad experiences with many of them except certain the ones who had earned his respect and Meia right now had yet to earn his.

"I don't like you Seth Reager." Meia said.

"Feeling's mutual Meia especially considering that you come from a planet full of arrogant bitches who torture and execute a child's parents and send same child a video showing the same actions and telling such child that they're next." Seth countered venomously.

"Says you. No one on Mejere would do something that sick to a child." Meia defended in surprise.

"Keep telling yourself that. It doesn't deny the fact that those women did so and mentally scarred the child for life. I know so because I saw the video myself and needless to say it got my blood boiling at how inhumane you women could be, even more than those assholes from Tarak." Seth stated as he began walking away from Meia. After taking some steps he looked over his shoulder at Meia.

"Oh and as for those women who did all those acts, they ended up shot down by the very same child they threatened to kill. Karma's a bitch isn't it?" he said before he walked out of the hangar, leaving some shocked women behind especially the Dread team leader.

* * *

**Chapter 4 End.**

**Sorry for the delay but I'm much more busy with school work so finding time to update won't be easy. So read &amp; review. I'll appreciate it as long as it's not mindless flames.**

**Until then sayonara!**


	6. Desert Blaze

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. **

**AN: Sorry about my earlier screw ups with the chapters, won't happen again! Anyways back to business!**

**Chapter VI: Desert Blaze**

* * *

Getting out of bed in his room was a very pissed off Seth Reager. It wasn't that he didn't want to wake as his body had been used to getting up early, however in this case it was even much more earlier than usual as the man had been woken up by more memories of his past life on Gradius, especially those of his former _family_.

_'Grrr...I don't need this shit!' _

Seth got himself out of the bed and headed to the shower, managing to get his sleepwear off and soon took a cold shower. Even while in the shower memories of his past kept coming which only served to aggravate him even more. Seth decided that after a shower he'd work on the Alpinia to keep his mind off all that crap.

**...**

In the hangar bay was Seth sighing as he did a full system diagnostics of the Alpinia to check the changes made to it, especially considering the fact that it fused with a Dread like the Vanguard did. He had noticed after maintenance that the power structure and system drives were both enhanced with very small Paksis shards, increasing both systems' efficiency and operational capacity by a lot. Also during the previous battles Seth noticed that the Alpinia was much faster and had increased firepower, surpassing both the Vic Viper and Lord British combined. Quite the improvement.

Not far from Seth was Hibiki performing his own maintenance on the vanguard and also repairing the damage from the last battle. While it didn't take long for him to do that due to being a good mechanic back on Tarak, he was still very exhausted. As soon as he was done, Hibiki closed the panel and he sighed.

"These women are such slave drivers, aren't they partner?"

"I don't know about them being slave drivers, I'd agree that they're more like a pain in the ass." Seth said.

Hibiki looked at Seth who was now sitting in his fighter's cockpit as the on board computer was at work.

"So you now want to talk to me?" Hibiki asked in suspicion.

"Like I ever said that I didn't want to." Seth replied, "I just chose not to because of your attitude brat. Besides I had to deal with that control freak Meia."

"Yeah no kidding. She acts so high and mighty."

"On that we can agree."

Unknown to Hibiki, a certain redhead had snuck up and was about to ambush him. Dita had managed to climb up the ladder to surprise her Mr. Alien while Hibiki was too busy complaining to his partner. When she got into position she pressed her finger to her lips and shot a heart. When the floating heart connected Hibiki fell from the platform and down to the floor which Seth winced at.

"That's going to hurt. You alright there brat?"

"I'm okay...Maybe I'm just not eating right." Hibiki mumbled as he stared at the ceiling.

"Mr. Alien? Are you okay?" Dita asked as she stood above him.

Hibiki didn't answer her at first because of his exhaustion and his recovering from the fall, plus he was unaware of the fact that he was very much looking up Dita's skirt which made him suddenly feel embarrassed. He managed to get up to a sitting position while Dita looked at him in concern. Suddenly they both heard a loud sound...and it was coming from Hibiki's stomach.

"I could make you something to eat." Dita suggested to him.

Hibiki didn't answer her as he closed his eyes and sighed before getting to his feet and sluggishly walked out of the hangar.

This made Dita somewhat confused by what had happened, though she soon had an idea to make sure that her Mr. Alien was going to be all right before leaving the hangar too.

_'I swear those two are almost right for each other.' _Seth thought.

He was brought out of his thoughts as the onboard console notified him that the diagnostics were complete. He quickly brought up the results on the display and after a few minutes of skimming the data in front of him, his eyes widened with shock and awe. Looks like the Paksis had made more significant changes than he had realized. Like a very powerful over shield over the Alpinia that could take a lot more damage, a much more reinforced armor in case the shield somehow failed, and finally the Options were now much more efficient along with some other upgrades he had no idea of yet but would most likely figure out later.

So he put the system on standby along with security measures and then closed the cockpit. He needed to eat too since he was beginning to feel hungry.

**...**

Meanwhile, Magno and BC were currently looking over the images of the newly located planet that the Nirvana was now currently holding its position above. So far it appeared to be completely deserted although some initial scanning had shown faint traces of inhabitation.

"This planet looks completely dead." Magno stated.

BC nodded in agreement with that assessment, but she felt that there was something there that they could learn, or even salvage.

"I agree, but what could cause this planet to be like this? With your permission Captain, I'd like us to find out what happened down there, there might be some sort of valuable information that we can get once we're on the surface."

Magno looked at the planet in thought before she looked at her second in command.

"I'm not too worried about you going BC, but I'd prefer it if we got enough data about this planet before we went into uncharted territory."

Buzam agreed with her captain and went back to looking at the image of the world below the ship. Something told her that there were some answers there, but first they had to be sure before they could send a recon team to check it out. Therefore she began to take the time to plan out their next move. However there was still one more issue that has been bothering her...

"Captain there's still the issue about the Gradian?"

"Oh? What about him?" Magno asked.

"Do you think that he's somewhat familiar? I mean I've heard his last name before." BC continued, "Do you think that he's related to that incident back on Mejere seven years ago?"

Magno closed her eyes as she thought about it. She remembered Seth's last words to Meia back in the hangar after the last battle.

_"Feeling's mutual Meia especially considering that you come from a planet full of arrogant bitches who torture and execute a child's parents and send same child a video showing the same actions and telling them that they're next."_

_"...It doesn't deny the fact that those women did so and mentally scarred the child for life. I know so because I saw the video myself and needless to say it got my blood boiling at how inhumane you women could be, even more than those assholes from Tarak."_

_"Oh and as for those women who did all those acts, they ended up shot down by the very same child they threatened to kill. Karma's a bitch isn't it?"_

"He might be related or he just coincidentally have that same last name." Magno said, "Especially with the way he spoke of it as if from experience."

"Maybe so but what if he turns out to be..." BC trailed off.

"If he does then we'll have to be much more careful. For now we tread carefully as we're close to stepping on a proverbial land mine."

**...**

Hibiki was now bare of his clothes and wearing only his loin-cloth underwear as Duero began to check his vital signs on a health monitor that showed that he was still fine but just exhausted. After more sensors on the teen, he moved his hand down to Hibiki's leg, checking to make sure his muscles were firm and contracting properly before moving his hand closer to the pilot's nether regions. Noticing Duero's hands moving towards that part of him, Hibiki panicked and backed away from the doctor in surprise.

"Hey?! What are you doing?!" Hibiki asked.

"I'm examining you." Duero replied somewhat surprised at Hibiki's reaction.

"Keep those hands to yourself!" Hibiki replied in a wary tone.

"You've been acting really tense lately Hibiki, not to mention that you appear to be very exhausted."

"Well fighting side by side with those women is no picnic doc, not to mention protecting them."

Duero was surprised by Hibiki's statement but smirked at it at the same time.

"So you're protecting the women, kind of an odd twist for a man of Tarak to take, don't you think?"

"Well you see the thing is I'm stronger than they are..."

Duero smirked a bit and noted the slight elevation in Hibiki's pulse rate, along with his twiddling of his fingers, and decided to change topics.

"Maybe we should not talk about the women for the time being, you need to rest and eat more."

"Good idea Doc." Hibiki replied in agreement.

It was then that Paiway showed up and looked at the pulse monitor that the Tarak medic was using to check on his fellow man's current medical condition.

"What's this thing? A video game?" she asked.

"You've never seen a pulse monitor before?" Duero asked somewhat surprised by Paiway's question considering that the young nurse was the chief medical officer on the ship before he was assigned to the Medical Bay and he thought she'd be knowledgeable on most if not all medical equipment and devices used in medical treatment, even the most basic of those devices like the pulse monitor.

Paiway went from curious to upset by the doctor's question.

"What's it to you if I haven't seen one? Besides you don't need something like this. All health problems can be fixed in the Jacuzzi."

Both Hibiki and Duero looked at one another in confusion at what Paiway was talking about since they'd never heard of it.

"Jacuzzi?"

"What the heck is that?"

**...**

Meanwhile in the spa, many of the women were relaxing. Some were having their nails done while others were bathing in the Jacuzzis.

"Ah, space battles always damages my hair." Jura said as she lounged on a salon chair with a towel wrapped around her head, keeping her long blonde hair from flowing out, and another large towel wrapped around her body while several attendants were massaging her legs or giving her a manicure and a pedicure.

"Don't worry Jura. We're here to revive your beauty." One of the attendants assured the blonde Dread pilot.

Jura sighed as she felt her body tension melt away from the massage she was getting, she moved her head to the side and saw Meia soaking in the Jacuzzi.

"Meia, are you trying to lose more weight?" Jura inquired.

"Excess fat gets in the way of combat." Meia simply replied.

"That may be, but you won't have any breast left if you keep that up." Jura pointed out.

"Heh. Don't worry about me. I can take care of myself Jura." Meia replied.

**...**

In the cafeteria Seth was eating his brunch, consisting of macaroni and cheese, toast with bacon and eggs and water. He was not the only one as they were also other women there too having their lunch, some of them keeping their distance and glancing at him, some of them whispering to each other and the rest not giving a damn. The Gradian knew there were eyes on him and many were still being cautious about him because of his home planet or because he's a man.

Seth then spotted Dita arriving in the cafeteria and going straight to the conveyor belt that ran from the kitchens to the cafeteria and back which had all kinds of food on it. It seemed that she was looking for a particular meal. She wasn't the only one as Barnette too arrived and was about to get a meal of her own which happened to be the one that caught Dita's eye. It was a dish that had sliced fillet mignon, with baked potatoes and some basil on it with a tag of 789 calories.

"I think I'll take this one!" Dita said cheerfully as she grabbed the dish and held it in her hands, much to Barnette's surprise and displeasure which she made clear.

"Dita! That's loaded with calories, why would you want that?"

"That's all right Barnette, he told me he wasn't eating right." Dita said happily as she headed off with the meal, leaving a confused Barnette behind.

"In case you're wondering, she's taking that meal to Hibiki." Seth pointed out for her.

Barnette turned around to glare at Seth as he continued eating his meal, ignoring her glare.

"No one asked you male!" she sneered.

"I have a name _female_ and it's Seth Reager, get it right. And all I was doing was pointing something out for you so drop the hostilities." Seth said.

"And my name's Barnette not female and I don't need someone like you telling me to not be hostile when you've been nothing but hostile yourself." Barnette replied.

"Pot's calling the kettle black here. All I did was make it clear to you all that I won't take crap from anyone here. It's not like you've treated me with any form of respect so I'll be just as disrespectful until you earn my respect. At least your captain, her second in command, Duero and Gascogne have earned my respect, the same can't be said for the rest of you."

"Well you haven't earned our respect either."

"Good to know that we're on the same page."

Done with his meal Seth got up and disposed of the empty plate while carrying the bottle of water with him. As he walked past her Seth subtly bumped her away from him.

"Stay out of traffic next time." Seth said as he exited the cafeteria and leaving an angry Barnette and surprised women.

**...**

"Heat signature detected" Belvedere announced.

"There's a very large sandstorm in the area so I can't be entirely sure Captain, but the scanners have picked up what looks like an artificial structure." Ezra reported.

"I think that it is best that we do investigate the surface Captain, we might find not just information but supplies as well."

"Hmm…the kitchen is running a bit dry so no sense not stocking up on some fresh supplies. All right then, we'll do this the old fashioned way."

BC smiled and turned to the bridge operators, "Alright, we are about to begin a surface operation, begin monitoring weather conditions and also calculate the best location for a landing zone for our recon team to be deployed, along with the right time to send them down there."

**...**

Seth walked into the med bay to see Duero typing on a console while Hibiki was lying on one of the beds.

"Hey doctor, you have any medicine for high blood pressure? I think I'm in need of one right now."

Duero looked up at the pilot with a raised eyebrow.

"Medicine for high blood pressure? Yes there's some available but what makes you think that you have such a condition?"

"People seem to be testing me more and more, and it's taking every form of self-restraint for me to not really lose my cool. Meia's already found out the hard way with a tongue lashing."

"Yes I remember that. That was quite a colorful way of expressing yourself though that did not do you any favors."

Seth scoffed at that as he received a red capsule from the Tarak doctor. "Please that woman got off easy. If I wanted to I'd give her a one way trip to the med bay courtesy of the Reager Pain Express. Free of charge."

Duero just sweat dropped at the Gradian's words.

"It'll be advisable that you don't do that. Not only would you antagonize the women here but you might make me have to work overtime to treat those you do send here." The doctor advised.

"I make no promises doctor and what makes you think that it's only women I'd send here?" Seth deadpanned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that there's a good chance that I send Bart or maybe the brat over there here too."

It was then that BC made an announcement over the speakers _"Attention all pilots and crew members. We're going to investigate a planet shortly; therefore all crew members are to begin simulation runs of the Vanguards."_

That got a certain vanguard pilot's attention instantly.

"WHAT?! WOMEN ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO USE THE VANGUARDS?!" Hibiki shouted in shock before running out of the infirmary leaving Seth and Duero behind.

"Well that's interesting. This I'd like to see." Seth said before taking the medicine and drinking some water to wash it down.

"Really? And are you going to join in the training simulations?" Duero asked.

"Nope. No way in hell am I flying inside any of those death traps." Seth replied instantly.

**...**

In the Hangar Bay, the women and Seth were looking at the Vanguards that were found in the Nirvana. The women were not happy with the bland color scheme of gun-metal grey and metallic silver of the vanguards and so they began to paint them in order for them to look more presentable.

"Geez, I know that the dreads were never meant for atmospheric operations on a planet, but that certainly doesn't mean I have to like using the vanguards." Barnette complained.

"I really don't care much if it's a dread or vanguard, just as long as I can combine to make something beautiful." Jura said as she looked at her vanguard which was painted in her favorite shade of crimson, just like her dread.

Seth however just looked at the idiocy of the women's actions. They were more or less giving the enemy advanced notice of their presence.

_'Not even face palm worthy.' _he thought as he didn't even bother to comment or face palm.

"Hey there! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me! During my long years in the academy, I have endured hundreds of training missions. You could then say…" Bart boasted but was interrupted as an anti-gravity lift floored him when it came on top of him.

"What are you doing standing under the lift? We're busy here so try to stay out of the way!" The technician who was on the lift scolded.

"Okay." Bart moaned as he rubbed his sore head.

Seth just shook his head at the pathetic cadet as he muttered 'idiot'. He turned his attention to the door as Hibiki suddenly ran into the Hangar Bay and rushed past them before he stopped, stunned somewhat at what the women had done to the vanguards. His gaze however was directed to where his vanguard was and he gasped as he spotted Dita on the ramp, brandishing a spray painter.

"HOLD IT! DON'T YOU DARE!" Hibiki cried as he immediately rushed to his vanguard.

"I'll make Mr. Alien's partner clean and pretty! I'm sure that Mr. Alien will really like it!" Dita said as she readied and aimed her instrument at the vanguard.

Hibiki arrived just in time and stood between Dita and his vanguard just as she fired off a stream of pink paint. As a result he was doused in the liquid, and now half covered with pink paint. Seth was now doing his best to keep himself from laughing his head off.

As soon as he got the paint out of his eyes, Hibiki directed a rather angry glare at the redhead.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING THIS TIME?!"

"WOW! A PINK ALIEN! HOW CUTE!" Dita cried out as she ignored his the angry Tarakan, while staring at him with stars in her eyes.

"She's really crazy!" Hibiki moaned.

_'I don't know whether to agree with him or to just laugh at that.' _Seth thought.

**...**

In the simulation room, the women were having their vanguard training runs to get used to the mechs and to also pick out their recon team for the mission they were about to go on. Seth and the Tarak men watched the simulations from another room. Needless to say the woman sucked donkey balls when it came to piloting the vanguards but that was not a surprise since they were completely unaccustomed to the male mech unlike the dreads they were more experienced with.

"As much as I understand why they suck at this it's still sad to watch." Seth commented.

"You can't blame them for their inability to use the vanguards. They're more used to flying their dreads after all." Duero said.

"I've had it! What is wrong with this thing?!" Jura said in frustration as she was thrashed about in the simulator. "Why can't this thing move with a lot more elegance?! I'm out of here!" With that she got out of her pod.

"Don't you need permission to do that?" Pyoro asked from the observation room.

"Oh be quiet you!" The blonde snapped before leaving the room.

"At least she quitted while she was ahead." Seth deadpanned.

A few minutes later Barnette and Dita finished their own simulation runs. Barnette did well enough for someone who disliked the Tarak machines while Dita clumsily managed to do well enough to pass.

"See? I knew that the women can't pilot a vanguard better than a man can." Hibiki mocked and he got rewarded with a slap to the back of his head. "Hey! What was that for?!"

"Unlike you it's their first time in those flying tin cans, not to mention that they're not accustomed to it." Seth replied impassively.

He then noticed that Duero was focused on life support readings of Meia from the simulator's sensors. He too looked on and like the doctor noted that Meia seemed to be breathing much harder than before and was unfocused on what she was doing.

"I think we have a problem here." Seth said, "And I know those signs anywhere."

"So do I." Duero said in agreement, "But let's be certain first."

"What's there to be certain about when it's already obvious?" Seth deadpanned.

**...**

Meia pounded the side of the simulation pod in frustration as she saw that she had failed the simulated mission and was considered killed in action. She tried to calm herself down and keep her focus. It was then that the comm-link came online and she heard Duero's voice.

_"Are there Medical overrides on Mejere?"_

"What are you talking about?"

_"On Tarak, doctors like myself are given full authority to ground pilots who find themselves in situations such as the one you happen to be in right now. Do you want that to happen?"_

"Of course not!"

_"All right then, I suggest you switch you're video monitor settings to wide screen, that should make the strain on your mind and body a lot less difficult and allow you to stay focused."_

"Keep your opinions and advice to yourself! I don't need help from anyone, least of all you! I'll be just fine, thank you very much!"

Seth listened to the exchange and sighed in annoyance. This woman doesn't know her limits or the fact that her claustrophobia would make her a liability if she went on this mission. Her stupid pride would one day be the death of her and as much as he wanted to let her foolishly go to her death, his conscience just wouldn't let him do that. So he decided to actually take action, one that could benefit someone.

_'Hopefully this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.'_

**...**

"Hmmm…. How to use the ten-in-one knife shield… following the will of the pilot…ah, simultaneously with the electron pulse beam! I can do this!" Bart said as he went back to reading the Vanguard instruction manual.

"Whatever Bart, just keep doing whatever it is you're doing." Hibiki said as he tried to leave the room. However his attempt to leave the room was stopped when his vision was blocked by a very ample amount of cleavage and was pressed between them instantly, stopping him in his tracks. Hibiki gazed up and found himself being looked at by a certain blonde which made him feel rather uncomfortable for some reason.

"Hello there." said a smiling Jura, "In the next battle, you will be combining with me! I hope you remember that."

After she and Barnette left the training center, Hibiki was left confused by her actions.

"What the heck was that all about?"

**...**

Back at the simulation room, Meia was out of the simulation pod, panting and lying on the consoles, covered in sweat and breathing quickly, with shallow intakes of air to calm herself down a lot more.

Duero and Pyoro looked at the young Dread squadron leader. Meia's state was an indication to the Tarak medic that she was indeed suffering from a very serious medical condition that had something to do with very tight spaces.

"Meia…I was looking over the medical readouts and the symptoms you have appear to be psychosomatic in nature." Duero said, "That tells me that there is something that happened to you that got you with this condition, do you have any clue as t what had caused this?"

"Hmph, your diagnosis couldn't be any more wrong." Meia snidely replied, "It's nothing more than fatigue Doctor."

"An adamant denial. Your case is far more serious that I thought it was." Duero stated.

"I am not denying anything, it's just fatigue, nothing more." Meia snapped.

She managed to get out of the cockpit with Duero and Pyoro moving out of her way to let her pass. However, she nearly collapsed and Duero managed to catch her to prevent her from injuring herself further, but instead of being grateful, the woman violently pushed Duero's aid aside and got to her feet and moved on, but not before turning to look at the physician and spoke in an angry tone.

"There's nothing I hate more than nosy people."

With that, she left the room leaving Duero and Pyoro behind.

**...**

As Meia walked down the corridor, she turned to the next one only to find herself face to face with the last person she wanted to see who was looking at her in with an impassive expression.

"What do you want Seth?" Meia asked with a growl.

"To stop you from doing something incredibly stupid." Seth replied, "Which is going on this mission in your current condition."

"You're just as thick headed as that doctor! It's just fatigue!" Meia snapped in protest.

"Claustrophobia is not the same as fatigue Meia! It's clear as day that you have it." Seth said sternly, "And I don't need to spell out what would happen if you go on this mission with your condition, but considering your idiotic pride I'll say it anyways, you'll go down there, freeze up in fear due to the tight space of the vanguard and put everyone else in danger."

"I am an officer on this ship! I lead all the missions the crew takes and you're my subordinate! You have no say in what I do."

"If you want to go to your death like the fool you are then be my guest, however you'd better think about how the rest of the crew would feel if you got yourself killed on this mission. Even though I have no respect for you, I won't be able to live with myself if I let you go get yourself killed."

That stunned the Dread team leader as she heard him say that.

"W-w-what?!"

The Gradian pilot just turned around.

"However this' just me giving you advice. It's up to you to take it or disregard it. Either way I don't give a fuck but ridiculously enough I hope that common sense prevails."

With his piece said he left the woman alone in the corridor to think about his words.

**...**

_"Hey old lady! You there?"_

Buzam and Magno turned to see an irate Hibiki on the holo screen and Magno knew he was looking for her.

"There's an old lady right here little one, what do you want little one?" The elderly captain asked.

_"Tell your women to stop messing up the vanguards!" Hibiki complained, "It's really starting to piss me off! Anyway..." He then heard another voice and spotted a certain person coming at him and panicked. "Oh crap she's here!" _Hibiki was forced to cut off communications to the bridge as he ran from whoever was coming at him, leaving a smirking Magno and a confused BC.

"It's really ironic, it sure has gotten lively around here since we captured those men" Magno chuckled.

"Y-Yeah." Buzam said, while still confused at what just happened.

Suddenly another screen came up after and this one showed Seth with a serious look on his face which got the captain and the first officer's attentions.

_"Captain. I'd like to make some requests."_

The elderly captain looked at him in surprise. "Really? What is it?"

_"First I no longer want to be part of the Dread team. I just can't work with them especially when I'm butting heads with the leader." _Seth said.

Magno sighed as she expected this to happen after his past actions towards Meia.

"Sure I'll grant that request as long as you still assist the Dread team even when you work solo."

_"I have no problem with that. Next I want to be the one to lead this operation."_

This time BC spoke up, "Oh and why do you want that?"

_"I have experience with air to ground operations and the Alpinia can go through operate both in space and planet side." _Seth explained, _"Plus I can support them with cover fire if things go bad."_

Magno saw the Gradian's point and she decided to trust his judgement on this.

"Alright I'll give you command of the recon team. Anything else?"

_"Yes. It's about Meia. I'm sure you know this already, but she has claustrophobia. She should be excluded from the upcoming mission. I saw the signs and I know that if she goes down there she'd only become a liability to the recon team and the mission. I've already advised her to not go on the mission but I'll feel better if you also take action too."_

Magno sighed as she closed her eyes to think.

"I understand. I was aware of her condition, but didn't realize it was that bad. If you really believe it's for the best I'll see to it she's excluded from the mission."

Seth's expression changed to one of relief. _"Thank you Captain. You just increased the chances of success on this mission." _After he said that the screen vanished.

"Did Seth actually show concern for Meia?" BC asked puzzled by what she heard.

"He may try to hide it with his cynical attitude but he actually cares about others." Magno said with a smile, "I just hope that he expresses himself much more positively."

**...**

Right now Hibiki was busy wolfing down another boxed lunch from Dita who just watched on happily. Apparently the redhead had chased Hibiki all the way to the garden to give him that very same lunch to eat, which the raven-haired teen happily accepted. Unknown to the two of them, someone else was watching the whole proceedings. Paiway watched Dita and Hibiki and then took several pictures and smiled secretively at what she managed to gather.

"Heheheh…I got you…Pai Check!"

Not long after that, Paiway was now inside another chamber in the women's bathroom, talking to Jura who was currently in a stall taking a shower.

"The thing I noticed is, he was completely under Dita's control. And that was all because of one little boxed lunch."

Jura smiled as she heard that fact from Paiway.

"Hmmm, I see. That is something I can use to my advantage."

**...**

In the kitchen, Barnette was cooking her special meal, fillet mignon for Jura and she was not in a good mood after she heard why Jura had requested her to cook the meal in the first place.

"That's the reason why I'm doing all this cooking?!"

"It's so I can combine." Jura explained, "You do love me when, I'm beautiful, don't you Barnette?"

Barnette sighed in irritation at Jura's one track mind, knowing how futile it is to change her mind. She gazed around and spotted a bottle of hot sauce which made her smile evilly as an idea came in her head. Without Jura noticing, she poured large amount of the hot sauce and added a few spices to the mix as well to the food she was preparing.

"All right, I'm done."

"That's why I love you Barnette. Let's go find them. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces!"

_'Neither can I.'_ Barnette thought evilly.

**...**

Later Bart came into the kitchen and saw the leftover bits of food and was intrigued by what the women eat. Curiosity got the better of him and he grabbed one of the leftover bits from a pan and ate it, unaware of the hot sauce and spices that Barnette had put into the mix. He soon found out the hard way as he got up with a flaming tongue and puffy red lips.

_'Women eat stuff like that?! And Hibiki's been eating those things like there's no tomorrow! That guy's really tough!' _He thought as he downed a glass of water, trying to cool down his badly burned tongue and lips. He was beginning to feel some measure of relief as the water cooled his tongue. However, the door to the kitchen opened and in walked Dita.

"Mr. Alien, where are you?"

Bart quickly turned and spotted the redhead.

"Oh…it's you…"

"Oh, hello Mr. Pilot, are you all right? You're face seems kind of weird." Dita asked in concern.

Realizing that his lips were still puffy, Bart put the glass he had down and covered his lips with his hands.

"Oh…it's nothing really!"

Dita looked at Bart in confusion and then she noticed that the ice cream she was carrying for herself and Hibiki was already starting to melt.

"Uh oh, that's not good, you want some ice cream Mr. Pilot?" she offered to Bart. The blonde man reacted by screaming after recalling what happened earlier and he turned down her offer.

"No thanks! Maybe some other time! See you!"

With that, Bart left the kitchen in a hurry, making Dita very confused as to what had just happened. It was then that she spotted Ezra walking into the kitchen, with some sour dough bread in her hands and she was currently munching on one right now.

"Men certainly do strange things, I saw him in here getting some food from the pots." Ezra said.

"Ezra, why are you eating all that sour dough bread?" Dita asked.

Ezra blushed a bit as she took another bite from the one she had on hand already, and gave a sheepish smile.

"I just had this craving for something sour today."

**...**

"The planet's surface is stabilized Commander, we have good conditions to send in the ground teams!" Amarone reported after she scanned the surface and got confirmation that the weather conditions were good enough for them to send down the recon team.

"Alright. Order the team it's time to move out!" Magno said.

"Yes Captain." BC said.

**...**

In the garden, Hibiki had just given in to Jura's cajoling and the blonde had somehow also convinced Seth to join them to eat the fillet mignon the blonde woman and her friend brought for them. Jura was looking eagerly, as she saw her plan to have Hibiki and/or Seth wrapped around her finger about to come to fruition. Barnette, however, was eager see both men scream in pain as soon as they ate the meat coated in hot sauce and spices, and watch them suffer to her enjoyment.

While Hibiki hesitated, Seth already knew something was up as he had smelt the large amount of hot sauce and spices in the meat in front of him and in no time figured out Barnette's plot and Jura's moronic scheme too. Unfortunately for Barnette she wasn't going to get the satisfaction she wanted.

"Well then, since you took your time to make this then I'll have to eat it."

He took a piece of the meat to eat. Hibiki watched in curiosity at how good the food would be. Jura nodded as she smiled, prodding him to go and taste the food. After the first bite, Seth would soon be twisted around her finger. Behind them, Barnette tried not to laugh but made no effort not to grin. After one bite of the doctored food, Seth's taste buds would be on fire due to the spices.

Seth ate the meat and chewed it a bit in his mouth, while the others watched in anticipation before he swallowed the food.

"Not bad Barnette. I may not be fond of you but I give credit where it's due and I'll say right now that this food is delicious though the spices need a bit more kick to it."

Seth internally smiled as he saw Barnette's jaw drop as she looked dumbfounded that he wasn't even the least bit bothered by what he had just eaten.

_'I swear I placed in more than enough spices to make any person's tongue erupt like a volcano! How can that guy actually eat that?' _Barnette thought.

"You enjoyed that?"

Seth looked at her with a deadpanned expression as if she was an idiot for asking.

"Did I stutter? I said that I enjoyed this food. I'm giving you credit here or do you want me to take those words back?" _'And too bad for you as my taste buds are so used to hot spices that I have a high tolerance for them. As much as I hate those bastard cooks in Gradius they have done me a favor.'_

"N-no. Thanks for appreciating my cooking."

Jura smiled with pride at her friend.

"Well Barnette DID cook this and I told you that she's a magnificent cook."

"And you're right about that Jura. You should be glad that you have a friend like her." Seth said, "Even if I don't get along with her."

It was at that point that the communications system in the Nirvana came online and BC spoke out that the mission was a go. Hibiki wasted no time moving.

"Damn it! This isn't the time for eating, I'll see you guys at the vanguards!"

He took off to the hangar while Jura and Barnette looked on in surprise.

"I'm with him on that. I'll see you planet side." Seth said as he gave them a two finger salute before leaving.

"Don't forget that you promised to combine with me!" Jura called out.

"I'll try to consider that!" Seth replied back. _'NOT!'_

**...**

A few minutes later, The Alpinia launched from the Nirvana and sped towards the planet's atmosphere. It was then followed by Hibiki's vanguard and the other vanguards who were in a special drop-ship. Inside their respective mech were Dita, Jura, and Barnette. At the helm of the ship was Jura. Her gaze was directed solely on Hibiki's vanguard.

"I won't let you get off the hook that easily!" Jura stated as she directed the ship's trajectory to follow Hibiki.

"Leave Mr. Alien alone! The only one he's going to combine with is me!" Dita said as she heard Jura's speech.

"You stay out of this!" Jura said in retaliation.

Both decided to give one another deep glares instead.

Barnette just shook her head. "This had better be a quick mission."

_'Agreed.' _Seth thought as he took point.

The recon team began their fiery re-entry into the planet as they moved through the atmosphere. As soon as they passed through the clouds and cooled down, the drop-ship broke apart, letting its cargo experience freefall for a period of a few seconds. The vanguards then deployed umbrella-like devices to float all the way down to the surface. The Alpinia which was already built for planet side missions had no problem with its re-entry into the atmosphere.

**...**

Back on the Nirvana, Meia ran to the hanger and growled in frustration at being left behind.

"Darn it! I'm too late!"

Pyoro hovered over to her and spoke, hoping to calm the Dread leader.

"You're pushing yourself too hard. Don't you think that they'll be fine on their own? They can do well without you as they have the training."

"No! This shouldn't have happened! I'm their leader and I'm supposed to be responsible for all of them! Even Seth!"

"Mr. Seth can handle himself since he's already experienced with planet side operations like these." The robot explained, "Also the drop-ship's only designed for one-way use only. There aren't any others."

"WHAT?!" Meia shouted in surprise.

**...**

"Well this place is definitely deserted. No pun intended." Seth stated.

"Took the words out of my mouth." Jura said in agreement.

"There was no need for Meia to come with us for something like this, I doubt we can even find anything salvageable around here." Barnette said.

"Wow! Look at all this sand." Dita commented as she also looked around.

Seth ignored her comment as he flew around the perimeter. The moment they landed his senses had been going haywire. The situation was way too convenient. Perfect for an ambush. He is then brought out of his thoughts when he hears someone shout and looks to his left to see Hibiki's vanguard slip, fall on its back and slide down the dune. He sighed at Hibiki's slip up.

"You alright brat?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." The teen replied, "Just embarrassed now, this is my first time using my Vanguard on land and now look at me, flat on my back and looking stupid. And by the way stop calling me brat!"

Suddenly Jura's vanguard landed on top of Hibiki's own and in a rather suggestive way, causing Seth to stare in confusion at what the blonde dread pilot planned on doing with Hibiki.

"Well now! This looks like a good a place as any for us to combine don't you think? So let's get on with it." Jura said in a very seductive tone.

_'Is this woman out of her fucking mind?!' _Seth thought in disbelief. It seemed that Hibiki agreed with him but was more vocal about it.

"Are you out of your mind?! You want to do it here?!" Hibiki shouted.

"Stop that right now!"

The vanguards looked and saw Dita's vanguard nearby.

"The only one Mr. Alien's going to do it with is ME!"

"Now wait just a darn minute Dita! Who do you think you're talking to here?!" Julia retaliated.

"W….Well you can't do it!"

Jura and Dita began to glare at one another, neither of them willing to back down.

"WILL YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF!" Hibiki shouted as his vanguard took off from the ground to get away from the two arguing women. However the moment he took off laser beams shoots from out of nowhere and hits his machine, making it crash to the ground. Then more beams shoot out and form some kind of net dome trapping the vanguards in it while the Alpinia was outside of it.

"MR. ALIEN!" Dita shouted as she and the others looked on after the laser beams got their attention.

Unfortunately Hibiki's welfare was the least of their problems as the sand suddenly seemed to come life and rushed at them at high speeds.

"What the heck's happening over here?!" Jura shouted out.

Seth wasted no time taking action, shooting at the structures in an attempt to get his teammates out.

**...**

On the bridge of the Nirvana, Duero was very concerned. The pulse monitors on his console for each vanguard pilot and Seth's own were now showing elevated heart rates and increasing respiration.

"This is not good. Their pulse rates are increasing rapidly and they are now showing signs of fear and disorientation. Something dangerous is happening down there." Duero reported.

BC wasted no time in opening a frequency to the recon team below.

"Recon team, what's going on down there?"

Seth showed up next on the monitor.

_"It seemed that Hibiki triggered some sort of trap set by the enemy and we fell for it hook, line and sinker."_

The rest of the recon team showed up on the monitor as Jura, Barnette and Dita were in shock and panicking at the situation they were in.

_"What the heck is going on?!"_

_"We're trapped!"_

_"Thanks for clarifying the fucking obvious!"_

_"Oh, would you shut up?!"_

_"Ahhh! Look out!"_

"Calm down everyone! What sort of trap is it?" BC asked, hoping to keep the situation from getting even further out of hand.

_"To answer your question BC, the sand...it's attacking us." _Seth reported to BC.

BC stopped and looked on in confusion and disbelief after hearing that report.

"The...sand...is attacking?!"

**...**

Seth had managed to destroy one of the structures that powered the trap but it was still there. He was also worried for the team he was leading as they were in a huge bind right now due to the sand covering up the Vanguards at an abnormal pace. But those were not the only problems he was worried about. There was a much bigger one in the distance, one he had sensed and had him on edge from the start and it was on its way here.

"Damn it! My vanguard won't move at all!" Hibiki yelled out.

Luckily for him, aid came in the form of Jura's vanguard.

"Leave this to me!"

Activating the exhaust vent located in front of her mech, Jura used the airflow to blow the sand off Hibiki's mech, freeing it in the process.

_'Looks like she can have her moments.' _Seth thought in amusement.

"Thanks a lot!" Hibiki said as he saw that he could move again.

Jura then smiled as she replied, "You're welcome. By the way, why don't we combine? That's what I want in reward for freeing your partner."

Hibiki looked at the blonde with an unbelieving expression on his face.

"Are you still stuck on that combining business? In case you've forgotten, my vanguard can only combine with your dread. How do you expect me to fuse my vanguard with your vanguard anyway?"

That reply shocked Jura and she replied with a disappointed expression.

"Are you joking?! NO! Why didn't you tell me before?! I shouldn't have trained for this mission!"

"Save the whining for later! You guys have other problems!" Seth yelled out.

"Like we need you telling us what to do! It's not like you're helping in any way!" Barnette snapped.

"Newsflash stupid, I'm trying to disable the trap that's keeping you in here! So shut the fuck up and form up because you have bigger problems right now!"

And on cue a new threat arrived and they came in the form of sand copies of their vanguards shocking the others. The enemy then wasted no time going on the attack.

Dita desperately struggled as she was now engaging one of the sand vanguards as it attacked her own mech. She was shocked even more at the combat readouts; it showed that their systems were being copied and to add further difficulty to her current plight, the vanguard she controlled was also being drained of power.

"The sand-creatures are copying the vanguards' systems and draining the power supply! It's…almost like having the blood in us drained out!"

Luckily for her Hibiki came in and saved her by cutting down the enemy on her with his energy sword.

"Nice one brat!" Seth acknowledged. "Alright you four stay close and cover each other's backs so you won't get blindsided by the enemy. Defend yourselves with whatever weaponry your vanguards have."

"I don't take orders from men!" Barnette yelled.

Seth growled and made his annoyance clear to her.

"Barnette...SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DEFEND YOURSELF OR GET YOURSELF KILLED OVER YOUR STUPID PRIDE?"

That shut the woman up, at least for the moment. Dita didn't argue as she managed to get her vanguard's weapon, a chain-blade sword and activated the weapon carefully and she was soon joining Hibiki in fighting the sand vanguards.

"Seth's got a point! We have to deal with these guys while he tries to get us out of here!" Hibiki added.

Before Barnette say anything, she watched as Jura took out the long spear that was the weapon of her own vanguard and she was soon contacted by her friend and lover.

"Seth has a point and so does Hibiki, so let's not argue with them. Come on Barnette, we have to do this."

Barnette tried to come up with something to say, but even though she had her pride as a woman of Mejere, she knew better than to let it blind her to the need to work together. She sighed and grabbed the weapon set on her vanguard which was a short sword and a small hatchet.

"Hold up!" she shouted.

Meanwhile amidst the insanity, Meia was coming in for a landing in a vanguard that was left behind. She had tried to contact the recon team but got no answers. Duero couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Meia's picture, along with her vital signs, appear on his monitor.

"She's pushing herself." he muttered.

As for Meia, her claustrophobia was already kicking in as her breathing became rapid and she took in air in short gasps, her heart thundered in her chest and she was sweating profusely from her forehead while the cockpit was now deep red as the emergency lights kicked in, as several systems were now offline.

_"Meia! Meia! Do you hear me? Turn on your monitors! Look as far away as possible!" _Duero called out to her.

"He should mind his own business!" Meia said in a raspy tone. She still follows the doctor's advice and activates the monitors. After that Meia only has enough time to gasp as the sand attacks her before she screamed in terror.

Back on the Nirvana, Amarone gave a gasp of shock. She was monitoring the scene on the desert planet and was watching the markers that told her where the landing party was. Her cry of shock was due to the fact that one of the markers had disappeared, Meia's marker on her vanguard.

"Meia's vanguard has disappeared from the sensors!"

BC acknowledged the report from Amarone and immediately got into contact with the recon team.

"Recon team do you copy? Meia has disappeared! You have to find her!"

**...**

"What?! Care to repeat that?" Seth asked as he had just finished destroying another structure and had one more to go. Also the recon team had managed to work in sync to turn the situation around to whittle down the enemy numbers and now they were in control instead of the enemy.

_"I repeat… Meia's vanguard has landed some distance from where you and the others are. But she's no longer on our sensors! You've got to find her!" _BC repeated.

Seth became immediately irate. He had advised Meia to sit out this mission but no! Her stupid pride prevailed over common sense!

"THAT FUCKING IDIOT! SHE MUST BE DESPERATE TO DIE BUT I'M HAVING NONE OF THAT! WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER SOMEONE REMIND ME TO BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA HER!"

Everyone sweat dropped at Seth's outburst as lost it. Duero was even more worried as Seth's vitals were increasing rapidly and he had a feeling that the man's blood pressure was rising dangerously.

_"Seth calm down! Your vitals are all over the place." _Duero advised the irate pilot. He sighed in relief as the vitals returned to normal signifying that Seth had listened to him.

"Thanks for calming me down doctor. Everything here has been pissing me off." Seth said. He finally destroyed the last structure dropping the trap and then contacted Barnette. "Barnette you've gotten Meia's coordinates. You'll need to find her now. I'll give you cover while you're at it."

"I told you before that I don't take orders from a man!" Barnette said once more and pissed Seth off again.

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF COMMON SENSE! GO AND FIND MEIA SO WE CAN GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE OR BE THE REASON WHY SHE AND ALL OF US DIE HERE! WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

Once more the woman shut up and raised no more objections. Then she went off in search of Meia while Seth covered her and the others with air to ground coverage.

**...**

"What do you know? The man does know how to lead after all." Magno said in amusement as she saw how Seth handled the situation with the team.

"He sure does and he even knows when to go drill sergeant on them to get them to do so." BC added.

**...**

Meia on the other hand was dealing with an issue of her own as she was now in the grip of mental shock and trauma as the sand began to engulf her vanguard and plunge her into utter darkness.

"W-What do I d-do? I'm so scared…."

Just as soon as the sand soon engulfed her vanguard, Barnette's own mech arrived on the scene.

"MEIA!"

Since her vanguard's air vents had been damaged during the fight with the sand clones Barnette had to resort to manually removing the sand off of Meia's vanguard which was difficult to begin with. Suddenly the sand covered vanguard took off and pushed aside Barnette's vanguard, and triggered another trap. Suddenly loud alarms filled the air, and several large structures began to rise from the ground.

**...**

"What's going on?" Magno demanded as they detected the sudden increase of power under the surface of the planet.

Belvedere and the others did a scan of the situation and gasped at the results, which weren't good in any way.

"The self-destruct system for the defense system has been activated, there is at least 300 hundred seconds to detonation." she reported.

"That's not good!" Magno commented.

"Nirvana to recon team! You have to get out of there now!" BC called out through the comm-link.

**...**

"We'd love to do that but we're in the middle of a fight here!" Seth deadpanned as he took down some more Sand clones with the Options.

"That's right, if we could leave this moment, we sure as hell would have done it already!" Hibiki said as he managed to slice down another sand copy.

He then spotted yet another one coming up the dune behind them.

"What?! Another one? How many are there?!"

He was about to grab a sword to throw at it but Barnette's vanguard came beside the new unit and spoke to them all.

"Don't fire! That's Meia, the sand's taken control of her vanguard and she can't get it to move at all!"

"What did you say?!"

Inside her vanguard, Meia was in full state of catatonic shock and unaware of what was happening outside of her mech. She was shocked back into reality as something smashed into her vanguard and knock it on its back. She then heard Hibiki's voice through the comm-link.

"Hey! Are you taking a nap in there? Get that stuff off!"

"S-stop that! Forget about me…save yourselves…" Meia said weakly.

"Will you cut that out?!" Hibiki shot back, "As much as you may piss me off, I'd feel like crap if I let you die here."

Hibiki tried to scrape the sand off the other vanguard but it only kept coming back and much thicker. He then spotted something resembling a massive storage tank near them. His vanguard's sensors systems detected that the gas was liquid nitrogen. Just the thing they needed.

_"One hundred and twenty seconds until detonation."_

_"Did you hear that?" _Buzam cried out on the communicator.

"We're not deaf!" Seth shouted back.

Hibiki drew out and threw another energy sword to the side of the storage tank. The tank exploded and the liquid nitrogen began leaking out, flooding the surrounding area in a cold mist.

'Smart move Hibiki.' Seth acknowledged, but that changed quickly when he sensed that the bigger problem was not far from their position and it was one he instantly recognized. 'No way?! That thing's here?! Impossible!'

"What the heck are you doing?! It's freezing in here!" Jura cried out before she suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute?"

She looked through her monitor and saw that the sand clone she was fighting with earlier had suddenly stiffened and became brittle. In a second it broke into shards of sand. The mist spread out rapidly, turning all the remaining copies into brittle statues that exploded immediately much to everyone's surprise. The sand over Meia's vanguard cracked and broke away, allowing the young Dread Leader to see daylight once more.

Inside her own machine, Meia had a deep scowl on her. To think that she now owed a man her life...and to Hibiki no less.

She then tried to make her machine move, but it wasn't responding at all. She checked her readouts and saw that the sand had completely drained her mech of power. There was no chance of her to escape in time.

"The sand's drained my vanguard of all power! I can't move."

"Hibiki get everyone out of here now!" Seth demanded.

"Huh? Why?!" Hibiki asked in shock. The others shared his opinion.

"Because something worse is on its way here and you need to leave now!" Seth explained.

"But what about you?" Jura asked.

Seth shrugged, "Don't worry about me. Just get out of here." A shadowy figure soon makes its appearance on the scene.

"GET THE HELL OUT NOW!" Seth yelled. They obeyed and made themselves scarce. Once they are gone Seth engaged the enemy which became visible. It was a flaming mass in the form of a dragon. One from a certain mission. "Never thought I'd see your flaming ass again. Don't worry though, this time I'll make sure to end you permanently."

**...**

Back in the Nirvana, Magno and the rest of her crew watched with apprehension as the timer hit zero and then the surface of the desert planet was engulfed in huge balls of fire and explosive force in orange-red color. Duero's medical monitors were showing six readouts but the seventh had nothing but static. There was a deep foreboding silence all over the ship, as the pirates feared the worst.

In space Hibiki and the others watched the planet engulfed in flames.

'What the hell were you thinking staying behind like that?!' Hibiki slammed the monitor of his machine.

'Why?! Why did you help us but not yourself?!' Meia mentally asked in anger.

'I can't believe it…He's gone?!' Jura and Dita thought.

Suddenly a voice came on the radio, "Tch! It'll take more than that to defeat me." They look up to see the Alpinia speeding towards them with a force field around it. "Sorry to disappoint but you're not getting rid of me that easily!"

Duero looked as the seventh monitor showed its reading indicating that Seth is alive. Everyone else let off a collective sigh of relief as well in seeing that their Gradian crew member had survived. It was then that one of the bridge crew namely Belvedere announced that she had received some data from the investigation.

"Read it." BC ordered.

Belvedere became a bit tense, but a little prodding from BC got her to obey.

"Attention. This year's harvest includes red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, lymph products, etc. All blood products are in good condition. That's where the data ends."

The whole bridge personnel became shocked to the core by the information. Magno looked down with a barely controlled anger. BC turned to her commanding officer.

"They can't really mean…"

"I know BC, but the evidence is right here, and from what we have seen. Our enemies meant harvest completely. We're nothing but vegetables to them!" Magno then looked out to the stars and gave an outraged look.

"Whoever our new enemies, these aliens are. One thing is certain, they are quite formidable."

…

In the Nirvana's Hanger Bay, the vanguards and Alpinia were being brought back in for repairs and in the case of the Gradius fighter, maintenance. The battle below had shown to the pirates just how serious the Harvesters were about their mission of Harvest and that now was known to be harvesting all the organs of all living humans. The pirate officers were already deep in council on the matter of the enemy's plans and the use of the vanguards in future missions.

On several crates, were Dita, Jura and Barnette, resting after their first taste of vanguard combat. Meia was sitting on the floor and glaring at Hibiki who was sitting down on a crate.

_'Being saved is bad enough but being saved by a man is a disgrace. And of all men, it had to be HIM!' _

"Why are you angry that Hibiki saved your life?" An annoyed voice asked her.

Meia's eyes widened and she looked to her right to see Seth standing right next to her, and he was very pissed off. His fists were tightening and loosening and he looked ready to smash someone's face in.

"Don't make me ask again." Seth said in a dangerous tone.

Meia glared at the man which only served to make him even angrier but she couldn't see that.

"I'm not answering any questions from you." she replied.

The next thing she knew she found herself slumping over in a lot of pain. She barely managed to look up to and could swear that she saw her death as Seth glared at her with his soulless eyes. Next she was thrown violently to the floor on her back and then saw Seth instantly draw out his kukri and brought it down. Meia saw her life flash before her eyes as the blade got closer as she was unable to do anything while the other people in the hangar were screaming in terror. However she did not feel any pain. Instead when she focused her sight and looked to her side, she saw the blade of the kukri embedded into the floor still held by Seth who still stared at her with those soulless eyes.

"You're mad at Hibiki because of your god damned pride. You can't accept the fact that a man saved your life and you do not want to be indebted to one." Seth said as if devoid of life, "Do you realize that same pride of yours put the lives of the recon team and yourself in jeopardy? No you don't. Why? Simple, that same god damned pride! I'm so tempted to beat you within an inch of your life or outright killing you right here right now but I can't even bring myself to do that because we're both part of the same crew and it'll be bad for morale."

Seth then pulled the kukri from the floor and sheathed it.

"I can also tell that you suffered in the past which has made you harden and close yourself off. Not a surprise because I'm in the same boat as you." Meia's eyes widened at that. "I've seen and experienced enough crap myself and I know a few people who have gone through that same hell too. However they managed to push on and make their lives worth living. They found something to live for and the will to live and most of all they are good friends of mine and the only few people I still trust."

Seth then removed his duragg revealing his long messy black hair with large bangs concealing both his eyes.

"And like they did I am doing my best to move on with my life and find something else worth fighting for but it's becoming more and more difficult every day. The pain and all that suffering doesn't go that easily, I know that but I'm not giving up unlike you who have already done so before even starting. You're a dead woman walking and unless you do something about it you'll cause a lot of people unnecessary pain and suffering."

After saying his piece Seth left the hangar leaving some shocked people behind and unknown to him he had been watched by a certain elderly woman.

_'So you're similar in many ways to Meia, Seth? Although aren't you also a dead man walking yourself?'_

* * *

**End of Chapter VI**

**Yeah Seth's a very cynical and bad tempered person and prone to high blood pressure due to his outbursts. **

**Also more about Seth's being revealed piece by piece and his own story would be revealed later. **

**So the usual: read and review and no flaming.**


	7. Dogfight

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. **

**Chapter VII: Dogfight**

* * *

"CLEAR THE WAY!" Duero shouted as he once more checked his current patient…who was none other than Meia Gisborn and she was in critical condition.

"Surface wound to the head, ruptured spleen and a visibly fractured femur!" Duero listed off as he and some other people rushed the medical cart to the infirmary.

"You idiot! What were you thinking trying to take that thing all by yourself?! You were too rash!" Hibiki yelled out.

Meia didn't seem to be paying attention to what was going on around her as she aimlessly starred at the moving lights, her vision becoming blurry and her eyes starting to close as she faintly muttered "Mother?" before she passed out.

**...**

Out in space the remaining Dread pilots and the Alpinia were engaged in a heated battle with the Harvesters and they brought a new unit which had put Meia in critical condition and was causing havoc in the Dread teams' formations. It was insanely fast and was also using the battlefield to its advantage to pull off hit and run attacks. It was even faster than the Alpinia which was designed for high speed engagements.

_"Meia! That one is too much for you! Combine with Hibiki and you'll have a better chance!" Seth yelled over the comm-link._

_"I don't need anyone's help! I can handle this enemy by myself!" Meia snapped._

_Seth chased after Meia trying to stop her from foolishly engaging this dangerous foe._

_"This isn't the time for your god damned pride! You'll only get yourself killed!" _

_"I don't need a man's help. Least of all yours, I'll prove that I don't need anyone's help." _

_"Meia!"_

_Unfortunately Seth's warning fell on deaf ears as she continued to engage the agile enemy who easily outmaneuvered her and then fired its lasers and inflicting major damage to it. It would have finished her off if not for a now enraged Gradian who chased it off while roaring in berserk rage._

_"EVERYONE STAY OUT OF MY WAY! THAT BASTARD IS MINE!" Seth informed the Dread teams as he engaged the enemy in what would be a very dangerous dogfight._

**...**

Due to Meia being out of commission, Jura was left to take the role of team leader and needless to say her leadership skills were extremely lacking.

"A-team, switch over to formation Alpha 1 now, B-team…" Jura hesitated to give her orders causing the allied formations to break apart in the confusion and nearly collide with each other.

"Get it together Jura!" Barnette yelled, "Your formation is a mess!"

"I know, I just…" Jura was panicking. She never lead the dread teams in battle before and with them already at half strength as well as facing a new harvest enemy that shot down Meia, she was afraid of giving orders that would add to the casualty list. Thanks to the panic in their ranks the enemy capitalized and made severe attacks against them and the Nirvana.

"The outer layer of our shields has fallen!" Belvedere announced from the bridge.

"They're beginning to focus fire on the starboard bow!" Amarone said, trying to remain calm.

**...**

Meanwhile Seth was engaged in a deadly dogfight with the enemy that nearly killed Meia and its speed and agility was even faster than the Alpinia right now which the enemy was using to its full advantage as it easily avoided the attacks fired at it and used the asteroid field to its advantage to avoid the Psycom missiles and was even evading the Options.

Refusing to let this enemy get the best of him Seth's piloting skills were strained as he struggled to keep up with this fast enemy. Of course his blood was boiling in rage as he wanted nothing more than to destroy this bastard.

_'So you wanna play the speed game huh? Fine! I'll show you HIGH SPEED HELL!'_

Seth used the Speed Boost ability of the Alpinia, setting it to max setting which boosted the speed of the Alpinia to insane levels, which was more than enough to keep up or even surpass the enemy. However it made this dogfight even more dangerous due to the asteroid field the combatants were in.

Hibiki and Dita finally re-entered the battle and combined to form what the crew had referred to as Vandread Dita. The giant blue mech had its cannon ready to fire at the new enemy when Seth's voice came on the comm-link.

_"Stay out of this you two! This bastard's mine!" _Seth yelled with blood lust clear in his voice.

"Are you insane?! What makes you think you can take this thing by yourself! We can take that thing out with one shot right now! Now move out of the way before we shoot you too!" Hibiki snapped back as he also wanted to get payback for Meia.

_"I have the fucker right where I want, so back off and leave this to me or I'll shoot you down myself!" _Seth replied.

"What?! Seth have you lost your mind?!" Hibiki yelled in disbelief.

_"Oh I'm in full control of my mind! Now stay out of this and leave this to me!" _Seth replied.

Hibiki had to stop aiming the Vandread's cannons as he let the Gradian continue his dogfight with the enemy.

"Nice going! You had that thing and you didn't take it out?! Is that all a loud mouth like you can do?" Jura shouted as she came on the scene.

"Look who's talking?! You couldn't even lead the Dreads if you're life depended on it! Give me advice when you know what the hell you're doing!" Hibiki retorted not in the mood for the blonde's bitching and moaning, "And in case you haven't noticed Seth is fighting that thing by himself in that asteroid field!"

"What?! Is he insane?!" Jura yelled in shock.

"He's lost it Jura and he also said that we should stay out of his fight or he'll shoot us down himself." Dita added.

Barnette grunted, "Well let's leave him be then. If he says that he can handle it by himself then let him! We have our own battle to deal with!"

**...**

On the bridge, BC growled in anger at how badly they were losing the current battle and made it known.

"It seems we've relied on Meia's leadership too much, and we're paying dearly for it. We neglected to train someone to take Meia's place in the event something such as this would happen."

"It's not our fault entirely Buzam, it's because she would never let us train another to take her place, she always wanted to do things herself, never to rely on anyone but herself."

Magno knew a great deal about Meia ever since she met the young woman and knew just why she suffered from both her claustrophobia and her actions and words towards the crew. And as she narrated Meia's life to her second in command, Meia herself was seeing the same images of her own life in her mind.

"Ever since the tragedy that took her past life away from her, the public that had once supported her and her parents now turned their back on her, ridiculing her and calling her trash and worse. Meia realized that she had nothing left to call her own and she had ever since been forced to fight for it, and in the end she was all alone."

Magno then remembered Seth's words to Meia some days earlier.

_"...You're a dead woman walking and unless you do something about it you'll cause a lot of people pain and suffering apart from yourself."_

_'Is this what you were warning Meia about?' _Magno wondered, _'Did you somehow foresee this?'_

BC then turned to the operators and asked about the Alpinia pilot.

"What's Seth Reager's status?"

"He's fine but right now he's engaging the new enemy in the asteroid field!" Ezra reported in shock.

"What?! Is he serious?!" BC gasped.

"He's gone berserk and is focused on getting revenge for Meia." Magno pointed out, "Until he either destroys the enemy or dies trying nothing else matters."

_"Hey Old Lady!" _Hibiki came up on the screen.

"What is it young man?" Magno asked.

_"We gotta do something about Seth! He's gone off the rocker and is fighting the enemy by himself!" _

"We already know that and there's nothing we can do about it!"

_"Are you serious?!"_

_"But Captain! Mr Seth's going to get himself hurt if he keeps this up!" _Dita chimed in.

"Unfortunately I doubt he'd listen to me either in his current state." The elderly captain lamented. "All we can do is hope that Seth comes out on top."

**...**

Back in the asteroid field, the ante had been upped as the dogfight between Seth and the enemy raged on at insane speeds. Seth was dealing with high Gs, insane turns, high blood pressure and a lot of asteroids. But he didn't care because he was not going to let this bastard win! His rage was what kept him going as he pushed himself way past his limits. The two fighters battled to get the advantage but each countered each other's moves and the battle was getting more intense until it reached a turning point.

The enemy managed to get behind the Alpinia and attacked with a laser barrage but the pilot managed to evade the barrage. Then it suddenly slowed down and then barrel rolled and the enemy overshot giving the Gradian his opening.

"BURN YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Seth roared as he fired a pair of Psycom missiles and a barrage of twin laser fire. He scored a hit on the enemy but it still survived and was forced to retreat.

**...**

"The enemy is retreating" Belvedere cried as the enemy formation turned to withdraw from the battle.

"All pilots return to base now!" BC yelled "Hurry before they commence a counter attack!"

The Dread teams, Vandread and the Alpinia made it back to the Nirvana. Seth climbed out of the Alpinia while the crews worked on rearming and performing any repairs on his fighter.

Seth did not show it but that dogfight took a lot out of him. However he was not satisfied with the end result as all he did was do enough damage to make it retreat. As he moved towards the exit Barnette got in his way. He frowned as he was not in the mood to deal with her now.

"You're in my way, move!"

"You must be real proud of yourself huh? You return from the battle unharmed and all because you went after the single enemy instead of the larger force!"

Seth looked at Barnette with a cold, uncaring glare and he picked her up by her uniform and tossed her out of his way not caring where she landed which fortunately was just the hangar floor.

"At least I managed to force the enemy to retreat while the rest of you were flapping around like headless chickens. But I know that it'll be back for round 2 and I'll be waiting to end it once and for all!"

He continued his walk away from the downed and growling Barnette whom he ignored as he left the hangar. He made his way down the hallways to his next destination, the med bay. When he arrived he got the attention of Duero and Paiway who were still busy trying to save Meia's life.

"How is she doing, doctor?" Seth asked.

"We've stopped the bleeding and stabilized her, but we have another problem which is a fragment of the Paksis lodged in her skull." Duero answered, "We have a way to remove it but there was no telling if that would have a fatal effect on her."

"Do what you have to doctor. Just make sure to bring her back." Seth said.

He then looked over to Meia and walked over to her and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Life or Death? Your move."

After saying that he turned to leave only to stumble a bit but kept his balance but his action was caught by the doctor and nurse.

"Are you alright Seth?" Duero asked.

"Just felt a little light headed for a second. I'm fine now." Seth replied quickly, but Duero wasn't convinced.

"Are you sure? I heard that you were engaged in a dangerous dogfight with the enemy leader and you really pushed yourself. Are you sure that you don't need rest?"

"I AM FINE."

Seth quickly left the med bay while holding the side of his head.

"Something is definitely wrong with him." Paiway commented.

"I agree but we can't force him unless we're sure of how bad his condition is." Duero said, "For now let's focus on saving Meia."

**...**

While walking back to the hangar Seth began feeling fatigued and hearing pounding in his ears. He stopped by the wall and slid down it until he was seating down on the floor.

"I may have overdone it in Round 1 but that doesn't mean that I'm going to miss the next one. I'll end it right there and then." he said as he placed his right hand over his face. When he removed it from his face he saw blood on it, then he noticed that he was having a nosebleed. He quickly cleaned his nose with the sleeve of his flight suit and stood up. As he continued to walk he began to feel dizzy making him hold his head, close his eyes and stop moving.

_'Ugh! Not yet! Not until I settle things with that bastard!'_

The dizziness stopped and Seth continued his walk back to the hangar, though unknown to him Gascogne was watching him leave.

"He's really pushing it." she muttered.

**...**

_Meanwhile in the dream world, Meia was taking a trip down memory lane._

_She spotted a younger version of herself and her Ohma and Fahma walking together. __Those were days of happiness when they would give her a party and dot on her when she came home from school and there were days of sadness when her parents would fight and argue. Meia's parents were scientists who tried their absolute best to revitalize a part of Mejere that had grown barren and was no longer a viable place to live. That and the advancements that were promised for the people of Mejere made them famous._

_The scene changed and Meia got to see another happy moment in her childhood, one of the days she celebrated Christmas with her parents together. That was when her fahma gave her a present of a head-piece, the very same one she wore on her head. Her fahma commented on how beautiful Meia looked with the gift on her and that it was a gift from her ohma for her Christmas day, along with a small music box that she kept close to her._

_Unfortunately all good things come to an end and it showed as the scene changed once more showing that the project failed several times and it made things even harder for them. All the problems piled up until the facility suffered an accident that forced everyone in the area to evacuate. She was among the people being evacuated and the escape pods that would take the people to safety were already being filled up rapidly by many desperate people. That was when only the daughters were allowed to board the pods. Meia tried to reach out for her fahma, unwilling to be parted from her, however she only saw her mother shake her head as the doors of the escape pod closed and then she was surrounded by people and placed in total darkness. _

**...**

Seth made it to the hangar and saw that the crew were ready for Round 2 with the Harvesters.

_'Looks like I'm not the only one ready for round 2. Good to know.'_

He moved to where the Alpinia was to see it on the launch pad and looked to a nearby hangar crew member.

"The Alpinia is fully armed and fueled, Mr. Seth! Go give 'em hell!"

"Sure...thanks." Seth replied before climbing into his fighter. Soon after the Alpinia launched into space.

Seth looked around and saw the Dread teams and Vandread Dita in position.

"Hey Seth. Have you cooled down yet?" Jura asked.

"I'm not feeling any cooler." Seth responded.

"So you won't be going berserk anymore huh?" Hibiki asked.

"That depends. Besides someone out there wants another crack at me."

"Alright we'll keep the rest of the enemies off you so you can focus on your duel." Jura stated.

"That would be appreciated. Thanks."

"More like I got a plan that'll take them all out once and for all." Hibiki stated.

"I'm sure you do. Just make sure you play your cards right."

"Enemy approaching the Nirvana!" Ezra announced, "It's the same one that shot down Meia."

"He's mine." Seth said, "And this time I'll end it right here and now."

The pilots watched as the Alpinia went off to engage the lead Harvester unit for the final round. At the same time the rest of the Harvester force arrived.

"Alright let's do this!" Hibiki contacted the Dread Squadron as the Vandread began to charge its dual cannons.

"Everyone move into position!" Jura ordered to all of the dread pilots.

The dreads flew and stopped in certain positions at varying distances from each other.

"All pilots, shields up!" Jura ordered once everyone was in position.

The dreads put up their shields while the Vandread charged up its weapons and waited until the enemy got close enough. Then the mech suddenly fired its cannons at the dreads, the lasers bouncing and deflecting off of their shields and creating a massive swarm of lasers that destroyed every Harvester unit in their path.

**...**

Seth engaged the lead Harvester unit in another round of dog fighting. This time the Gradian was calm and he was making his opponent look like a rank amateur and with the fight now in open space than in an asteroid field, the Alpinia was keeping up with the enemy without using the maximum speed up boost.

"I can't believe that I struggled against you earlier." Seth chuckled, "Most likely because I was too blinded by rage to fight properly. But this time you're nothing but a joke."

The high speed enemy grew desperate as it wildly fired its lasers at the Alpinia which weaved through the barrage with ease. Seeing that it was losing badly and realizing that most of its comrades were gone the lone unit tried to bail but Seth wouldn't have any of that.

"Where do you think you're going coward?" Seth stated as the four Option phantoms suddenly followed the fleeing enemy before dividing into even more phantoms. The enemy then found itself trapped by 16 Option phantoms.

"There's nowhere to run! This is the end!" Seth roared.

In a display similar to what the Vandread pulled off earlier the multiple Option phantoms devastated their prey with multiple laser attacks from so many angles and obliterated it to nothingness.

"It's done." Seth said before he turned round to return back to the Nirvana.

_'I hope you've made the right choice Meia.' _he thought.

**...**

Meia found herself in a grass field with a clear blue sky. She felt at peace with herself, thinking she could stay here forever.

"Meia…"

Said woman turned and saw her mother looking at her, alive in her mind and she couldn't help but feel shocked and yet filled with relief and happiness.

"Mother?"

"You should not give up on life so easily Meia. You are a lot stronger than this."

"No mother! You...You were never the weak one! I was the one that was weak. I never had the courage to understand others. I was afraid of showing others how I felt, because…I was afraid of being hurt again and not being loved."

"Meia, you have a strong will and a gentle heart. You have people who care for you back there Meia…they need you, and trust you. You cannot leave them now, you will make them utterly sad if you die now."

Meia then saw images of her fellow pirates...Jura, Dita, Barnette, Gascogne, Magno, BC, Paiway, Parfet and the other women she worked with. Then she saw the men in the crew...the whiney Bart, the calm and collected Duero who tried to help with her deal with her claustrophobia and she ignored him, and Hibiki the Vanguard pilot, and how they clashed with one another and how they would square off.

Then she finally saw the Gradian pilot, Seth Reager, the one she butted heads with more than once and his hostile reactions. As much as she didn't want to admit it the man was an incredible pilot. But she also noticed a man who carried a burden and lived in suffering but he proved that he actually cared about others despite his cynical and hostile attitude especially during that desert mission where he stayed behind to deal with a threat that could have made things worse.

_"If you want to go to your death like the fool you are then be my guest, however you'd better think about how the rest of the crew would feel if you got yourself killed on this mission. Even though I have no respect for you, I won't be able to live with myself if I let you go get yourself killed."_

She looked at her mother who smiled back at her and she began to see her fade away, she didn't want to lose her mother now…not after seeing her alive once more…even if it was possibly only an illusion.

"Mother! Please don't go! I have so many things to tell you!"

"I know my dear…I will not disappear as long as you keep me in your heart...so live Meia please live."

"Mother…"

**...**

Meia opened her eyes, looking at the ceiling of the Medical Bay and soon found herself being looked over by Paiway and Parfait, both girls were sobbing hard as they looked at her with utter relief in their eyes.

"You came back Meia!"

"We were so worried…all of us were!"

Meia couldn't help but smile at her two comrades.

"Oh, stop it you two." she replied. She moved her hand to her face and see if she was truly whole and began panicking as she realized that her head piece was gone and she gasped, hoping that it was not destroyed in the battle beforehand.

"Don't worry, it's right here."

Meia looked to see Duero holding the head piece in hand, cleaned and ready for her to take back. He handed the circlet to her.

"This is something important to you isn't it?" Duero asked.

"Not really, it's a reminder." Meia replied calmly as she looked at the head piece.

**...**

The Nirvana moved on and out of the asteroid field. The crew had earned a peaceful night. A celebration for surviving their toughest battle yet was held in the cafeteria attended by almost everyone. After that the ship was quiet except for a few exceptions.

Buzam sighed in the bridge as she looked over the scanners of ship and looked out into space.

In the Botanical Gardens was Ezra sitting on a bench. Ezra was rubbing her growing belly and smiling at the fact that they were all safe and she would have a chance to have her baby daughter born soon. Then she looked up into the stars in the viewing dome.

In the Medical Bay was Duero working on a medical log while Paiway was asleep after drawing a picture and Pyoro was busy downloading information and resting.

Parfet once more was in despair as she lost to Gascogne in cards which they played in the Engineering Bay. Gascogne herself was glad that things turned out well at the end.

Meia couldn't sleep and she got out of her room and went to the cafeteria. When she got there she saw plates stacked upon plates and bottles littering the tables. Jura and Barnette were leaning on a wall and were fast asleep side by side. And Dita was sleeping as well, with Hibiki nearby and snoring, bare of his jacket. She had been informed of the celebration the crew had earlier which was why she wasn't mad about the breach in discipline and let it slide since she felt that they deserved it especially after they won without her help.

"They all did their best out there today."

Meia turned and saw Magno walk towards her.

"Oh, it's you Captain."

Magno walked towards Hibiki and took his jacket, putting it on him so as to keep him from catching a cold.

"It's very ironic. He's the exact opposite of you, the passionate fool. But he's won everyone's hearts and right under our noses too. You two are very much like each other, Meia the only difference is that he expresses his emotions. The same can be said for the Gradian. He is also a lot like you Meia, he's detached from the rest of the world and never hesitates to speak his mind, he's only detached from the rest of us because of something painful in his past. Whether he tells us his story or not is up to him."

"Captain…I…"

"Meia, don't you think that now is the time to find some forgiveness, for yourself?"

Magno then left the cafeteria, leaving Meia to contemplate on what the elderly captain said. She then realized that she needed to see one more person.

**...**

Inside the hangar was Seth Reager sitting down on a bench near the Alpinia. The pilot was trying to rack his brain about the new weapon of the Alpinia used in that last battle. The one where the standard 4 Options phantoms split into 16 smaller ones. It wasn't something he expected as an upgrade from the Paksis but it was one he found useful as it created opportunities for locking down enemies and supporting allies. After thinking about it he wondered about what other surprises are in store for him.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the door to the hangar slide open and looked back to see Meia inside the hangar.

"I'm glad to see that you made the right choice and chose life." Seth said dryly, "So what do you want from me?"

"I...I want to tell you that I'm sorry." Meia said. That caused Seth's eyes to widen as he never expected the control freak to apologize to him.

"O-okay...what got you all apologetic?" Seth asked anyways.

"Well I had an epiphany and realized how blind and arrogant I was." Meia answered.

Seth gave her a deadpanned expression. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, I am serious! Please hear me out." Meia exclaimed.

"Don't bother apologizing. Learn from your mistakes so that you don't make them again...Ugh!" Seth said before he started feeling lightheaded.

"Seth?! Are you alright?" Meia asked in concern.

"I'm fine. Just a feeling a little lightheaded. No big deal." Seth waved her concern off. Now she's concerned about him?! Odd. Then he felt ringing in his ears and then began feeling off balanced.

"Seth! You're not alright! You need to see Duero right now." Meia stated.

Seth motioned to her to hold on as he just stood on the spot until he no longer felt lightheaded or the ringing in his ears.

"Like I said, it's just minor-" THUD!

Just as he tried to dismiss the woman's worries Seth's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fainted on the spot.

"Seth!" was the last thing he heard as he blacked out.

* * *

**End of Chapter VII****.**

**Looks like Seth pushed himself too far.**

**Also like the new upgrade to the Options? That's just one of the big upgrades for the Alpinia.**

**Anyways read &amp; review. **


	8. Emotional Crap

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. **

**Chapter VIII: Emotional Crap**

* * *

The Nirvana was currently cruising through space. Majority of the crew were taking the time to relax and cool off after weeks of constant battles with the enemy. Fortunately there hadn't been any battles for the past few days, which made it all the more better for them.

Dita was just one of the many people enjoying the time off as she was in her room currently sewing together a pink pillow with a cute blue alien in the middle. Her room itself was filled with alien memorabilia of all sorts which showed more of her interest in aliens.

"Ow! That hurts!" Dita complained as she accidentally pricked her finger with the needle that she was using to sew the pillow.

Paiway, Dita's best friend ever since joining the pirates, had been watching for some time and wondered just what her friend was doing.

"Hey Dita, are you making that for someone?" she asked out of curiosity.

The redhead smiled as she places a hand on her cheek to conceal the blush on it. Paiway took that as a yes and smiled since she happened to find the pillow to be nice and thought it would be nice to have it as well.

"Because if you are then you can give it to me!" Paiway suggested.

Dita however shook her head and pulled the pillow away and hugged it tightly.

"No way! I'm sorry Paiway, but I'm making this for Mr. Alien!"

The young nurse had a sad and slightly annoyed look on her face which she voiced with her frog puppet.

"Barf! Kero!"

**...**

Not everyone was able to enjoy the days off as Duero was in the med bay looking at the monitor and sighing in the process. Why? Because a certain Gradian had pushed himself too hard days ago and collapsed due to high blood pressure. Meia had brought Seth Reager into the med bay and knowing why he fainted Duero had to work to keep the man's condition from getting any worse. Now Seth was resting on one of the beds, due to the medical order of Duero before he lets him leave. The Tarak doctor had managed to get the Gradian's medical history through the man's tags and needless to say he was appalled.

Seth's medical history was quite storied as he had cases of broken bones, food poisoning, malnutrition, stab wounds, bruises and so on. When Duero examined him he found so many scars all over the pilot's body which showed cases of abuse. Someone or people had done everything possible to make this man's life hell and somehow Seth endured it all and well the result is a scarred man mentally and physically with anti-social tendencies and a bad temper, which leads to cases of high blood pressure/hypertension. Just how inhumane can people get?

But the real shocker was when he checked for blood relatives. He saw that Seth was the adopted child of two ex-Gradius pilots, the same ones whose deaths brought Mejere the wrath of Gradius and nearly caused Mejere to be wiped off the map for good. Duero had heard of that disaster during his time in Tarak, in fact the higher ups used this to further their propaganda about the women. Not good. Not good at all. No wonder Seth acted hostile to the women. The crew definitely has a walking time bomb in their mist, one that could harm everyone and himself thanks to his past and his mental state.

Duero was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of yawning coming from his patient.

"Well that was definitely relaxing. It's been a while since I've been able to sleep that well. Thanks for the advice doctor." Seth said as he stretched, "So what's the verdict? Am I _now _free to go?"

"Yes you're free to leave, but I'd advise against doing anything intense for a while. Just light activities for now." Duero said, then he brought out some medicine, one that Seth recognized. "Also these are for you. Take them every day and also when you feel that you're _losing it_."

Seth took the medicine from the doctor and sighed. "Alright I'll do what I need to do to stay calm. Anything else?"

"That's all. You're free to go."

Seth got up from the bed and walked over to the rack where his coat was and took it before he left the med bay. After the Gradian left Duero looked back at the records and saved them. Magno and the other officers would need to see this.

**...**

In the bridge, Belvedere was telling Amarone a certain story she knew from Mejere, Ezra was sleeping on her bridge control console, key word being 'tried' and Magno and BC just looked on.

"It seems that if we're not under attack, things get rather dull around here." BC said as she sighed at how relaxed everyone was.

"I wasn't aware that you were into all that military ballyhoo BC." Magno said in amusement.

"I'm only concerned with the safety of the crew Captain." BC replied.

"Our business is piracy, am I right?" Magno asked.

"I know that…but still…"

Magno could understand Buzam's unease and boredom, but the crew however deserved a break after all the things that had been happening to them for quite a bit.

"Sometimes, even pirates like us need to enjoy a little R&amp;R." Magno explained.

**...**

Dita had arrived at the hangar bay with her finished pillow looking for Hibiki. She wanted to show her latest creation to her Mr. Alien knowing he was going to love it. However, she was surprised to find that Hibiki was not in the Hanger Bay working on his Vanguard as he normally does.

"Mr. Alien? Are you here?"

Dita looked into the open cockpit of the Vanguard and was surprised not to find him there, she then moved back as she looked about a lot more.

"That's really strange…I thought that he was going to be here." she said before rushing out of the hangar. It was after she left that Hibiki fell from the space above the cockpit of his vanguard and unto the seat.

"Sheesh! What does she want from me this time?!" he muttered.

**...**

Dita later arrived in Hibiki's room with her pillow but still didn't find him. She peeked under the bed and other places in the room, and she even peeked into his locker. She then looked at the large piles of boxes and other materials all over the room which was in disarray. Dita then smiled as she decided to tidy the place up a bit. She quickly moved the boxes and placed them in a good order, swept the floors with a broom and got rid of the dust in the area with a duster. After that she decided to make some changes to the room and when she was done, she was tired and lay down on the bed as she had placed her head on the pillow she had made for Hibiki.

It was a few minutes later that Hibiki returned to his room and was stunned to suddenly find his room very clean and filled with strange alien items and he also spotted Dita sleeping on his bed.

"What in the world?!" Hibiki wondered. Then he rushed over to the sleeping redhead, "Hey! Wake up!"

Dita woke up and smiled at Hibiki in her usual fashion as she jumps out of the bed and does a little ballerina spin.

"What do you think? I made your place neat and tidy!"

"Neat? Tidy? What the heck did you do to my room?!" Hibiki countered. Instead of giving him an answer to his question, Dita presented the pillow she made and smiled at him.

"Here! I made this for you!" she said.

Unfortunately for Dita, that was the last straw in Hibiki's mind.

"GET OUT!" Hibiki shouted as he kicked the redhead out of his room and threw out all the decorations and the pillow too.

**...**

In the team meeting room, Meia was working on new formations for the dread teams adapting them to include the vanguard and the Alpinia. Although she was a little saddened that Seth had gotten himself off the Dread team which she admitted was her fault, that didn't mean that she couldn't get the teams to work around him and his fighter, especially since like the vanguard it could fuse together with the dreads. Hearing the doors slide open she looked up to see Seth walking into the room and sitting at a table not far from where she was.

"Yo." Seth greeted.

"Hey." Meia greeted back, "Feeling better?"

Seth smiled dryly, "Yeah, but the doctor advised me to not do anything stressful for a while." He then rested his arms on the table and then his head on top of them.

"Even flying with us?" Meia asked.

"He didn't mention that but I have a feeling he implied that too." Seth answered, "Not like it matters much as I can fly just fine even with my condition. I just have to stay cool and I'm good."

"I see." Meia nodded, "I also heard that you got yourself off the Dread teams."

"And you know full well why. There was no way it could work out then, and I've already made up my mind." Seth said.

Just as he finished the doors slid open and the pilots looked up to see a sad Dita walking into the room, and Seth had an idea why.

"Dita?" Meia asked her subordinate.

"Let me guess, Hibiki yelled at you." Seth implied.

"Oh hi Meia, Mr. Seth." Dita said after realizing who were in the room. "But Mr. Seth, how did you know Mr. Alien yelled at me?"

"Because the moron can't keep his voice down." Seth said dryly, "So what did you do to make him turn up the volume?"

Dita explained what happened and Seth felt like he was relieving the past again as the situation reminded him of his first crush who betrayed him years ago and later tried to get back with him but unfortunately he would have none of it as he wanted nothing to do with traitors. She was persistent but that didn't do her any favors as he had already cut ties with her. However in this case, Hibiki still didn't have to lash out like he did to the young lady who clearly had feelings for him. But that's also not surprising since the Tarak youth was still getting used to being around the opposite sex.

"That boy needs to work on his social skills." Seth grumbled in annoyance.

"Like you should?" Meia deadpanned.

"I'm way more sociable than the brat." Seth dryly defended. Meia just rolled her eyes and turned to Dita.

"Dita, I'm not so good with words and I certainly don't want to encourage your curiosity, but I don't believe it's right for you to try and force your way into someone's heart." Meia said.

Unfortunately for Meia her advice didn't make things any better. Instead Dita became even more depressed and she left the room. Seth gave Meia a deadpanned look that unnerved her.

"What?"

"You're right. You're not good with words, you're terrible with giving advice."

"What?!"

"Forget it."

Seth got up from his seat and made his way to the exit. "Just need to do a quick check on the Alpinia for a moment. I'll be back."

After Seth left as well, Meia contacted the captain on the bridge. "Excuse me captain, I'd like to work on new formations for the teams."

Magno sighed on the screen, "I swear you and BC are cut from the same cloth. Why don't you at least take a break? We're not under attack now."

"With all due respect, Captain, our world and that of the men happen to be under threat from the Harvesters. We cannot afford to get too comfortable just because we are not under attack."

Meia replied.

**...**

In the Botanical Garden, Dita was busy throwing stones at the artificial river as she tried to make sense of why every time she tried to get closer to her Mr. Alien, he would get mad and push her away.

"Why? Why? Why? WHY?!" Dita lamented as she threw the last stone before sitting down, "I just wanted to get to know a little more about Mr. Alien…"

It was then that Paiway showed up and showed Dita a picture of the redhead from behind and it seemed different from a normal picture as there were waves coming out Dita's form.

"I took a picture of you with the new camera that Parfet made for me...Dita? Are you depressed?"

Dita looked sadly at Paiway.

"Isn't that obvious?"

She then got even more depressed as she looked back at the river and recalled one of her sadder memories growing up back on Mejere a long time ago before she joined up with the pirates. She had a pet blue-bird, a small bird that she doted on as a little girl but it became weaker and weaker until it died.

"It's just like the time I was still a kid and I had a pet blue-bird until it passed."

"A pet blue bird? I didn't know you had one before Dita."

"Yeah…It was the very first pet I ever had before. It was so full of life and energy and I doted on it every day, I fed it right, I took care of it the way I was told how. It was fine at first…but every day it began to get weaker and weaker until it died."

Paiway thought about it and then spoke to her best friend.

"Well, did you ever think that maybe it got tired and died because you kept trying to barge into its life?"

That quickly got Dita's attention as she looked at Paiway with shocked eyes. Paiway was just joking, hoping to get her friend to think about other things, but she was surprised that Dita was now looking at her with shock and intensity that slightly unnerved her.

"Are you trying to say…that I'm doing the same thing?" Dita asked.

"What same thing?" Paiway asked back in confusion.

"That I'm making Mr. Alien tired too, like my pet blue-bird before?" Dita asked again.

"Well I did hear Hibiki once say that he gets real tired when he's around Dita." Paiway said through her frog puppet.

The statement stunned Dita as she thought that when she was near Hibiki, he would eventually become tired and die just like her pet blue-bird all those years ago. The image of Hibiki lying on the floor dead all because of her filled Dita's heart with pain and fear as her eyes widened at the thought, and to hear from Paiway that Hibiki himself said that made her feel worse.

"He…said that…" Dita whispered.

Paiway then realized that Dita had taken her joke very seriously as she looked even more sad and depressed and the apprentice nurse was not expecting this to happen.

"I get it. I just have to face facts don't I? I'll just be in his way…" Dita said and became more depressed and sad.

"Hey Dita, wait a minute! I didn't mean it was that bad! Hey come on…I was just making a joke, you understand right? I was kidding." Paiway exclaimed in panic. Unfortunately Dita had become inconsolable as she moped on the floor.

**...**

After his quick check on his fighter Seth was on his way back to the meeting room with a bottle of water when he came across Hibiki who was in thought.

"Something on your mind brat?" Seth asked.

Hibiki ignored the name and answered, "Yes. You ever get that feeling something annoying is about to happen?"

"Yes. Almost every time." Seth answered back, "And I'm having that feeling now."

He entered the room with Hibiki following behind him.

"You're both late." Meia said to them.

"You'd better be telling him that." Seth said dryly, "I'm no longer part of your teams or formations." That got the attention of the other dread pilots.

"What? Did Meia kick you off the team?" Barnette asked mockingly.

"No, I requested for my removal from it no thanks to arrogant twats like you." Seth countered smugly pissing the woman off.

"Enough you two." Meia raised her voice.

"Whatever." Seth said while Barnette gritted her teeth in anger.

Meanwhile Hibiki just pretended not to care that he was a few minutes late as he made his way to one of the nearby benches. Jura notices that Dita hasn't arrived.

"Where's Dita?" she asked.

"What do I look like, her baby sitter?" Hibiki replied.

"Maybe, since she's mostly around you pinhead." Seth deadpanned as he sat down at the left end of the main table, while Meia stood in front of the center and Gascogne was seated at the right end.

Before Hibiki could answer, the doors to the meeting room slid open as Dita walked in and in a much worse mood than normal which was a surprise to everyone, except Seth who only groaned in irritation.

"You're late, Dita." Meia said.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." the redhead apologized as she took her seat and tried to avoid Hibiki's gaze. This surprised the Tarak teen even more as he had expected her to be back to her cheerful self by now but that was not so.

Meia sighed as she began to speak to everyone in the room.

"We're going to be working on some new formations that will incorporate the Vandreads and the also the Alpinia..."

"Hold up! Didn't I say that I'm not even part of your formation?" Seth asked in disbelief of what he heard.

"You're no longer a part of the team. That I know as the Captain informed me but since you still fight along with us I had to adapt our formation around you and like Hibiki your ship can also fuse with our dreads too." Meia explained.

"I've only combined with Barnette so far." Seth said and then sighed in annoyance. "Alright, you've made your point but that doesn't mean that I like it."

Accepting his reply Meia continued with the meeting. "Anyways as I was saying...We'll be working on the new formations I mentioned. The Vandread that Dita's dread forms with Hibiki's vanguard will form the main…"

"Forget it."

Everyone looked at Dita in shock except Seth as they had expected the redhead to jump at the chance to combine with Hibiki as she normally did. Even Hibiki was a bit surprised at that sudden statement and Meia was surprised at this sudden change of attitude from the redhead. However Seth was getting annoyed by it.

"Forget it because I won't combine with Mr. Alien and his partner anymore."

That surprised everyone even more and especially Jura, who tried to take advantage of the situation.

"Aha, I get it…You're starting to get bored with Mr. Alien, aren't you?" Jura said.

Dita shook her head and replied.

"No. I've realized that Mr. Alien isn't happy with me, so from now on you can combine with him Jura."

Meia was about to reprimand Dita but Seth beat her to it as he rose up to his feet.

"Dita! Quit moping!" Seth shouted startling everyone including the redhead. "You're doing no one any favors with your attitude. So lighten up!"

He then turned to Hibiki and glared at the teen unnerving him. "And you...man the hell up already! Seriously you two are seriously starting to annoy me! Get your acts together!"

After saying his piece Seth sat back down while holding his hand at his temple to stave off a headache. Meia also decided to add her own input.

"Dita, we don't have the time for this, this isn't a game you can just stop playing, and this is not the place for you to take your personal problems, is that understood?" Meia reprimanded.

Dita looked at Meia and nodded solemnly. "Yes Meia."

**...**

In the simulation room, Meia and Gascogne were watching the pilots, including Seth, practice the new formations on the wall monitor.

"Dita! Your response time is dropping!" Meia said.

"Right...sorry." Dita replied from the radio.

"That's not good. The girl's mind is somewhere else." Gascogne noted.

A few hours later, the simulations ended and everyone got out of their simulation pods. However Seth got out of his own and walked towards Dita and Hibiki and with the look on his face the other pilots could tell he was not happy.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Seth demanded, "You two were clearly out of sync. Didn't I tell you two to get your acts together?"

Both Hibiki and Dita were frightened at his tone of voice. Dita was hiding behind Hibiki and the Tarak youth tried to hold his ground.

"Well we got a lot of things on our mind you know." he said.

"And so do I, and every other person on this ship." Seth snapped, "If this was a real battle you'd both be dead three times over by now and putting the rest of us in danger."

"S-s-sorry." Dita said timidly.

Seth sighed as he held his temple again staving off another headache. "Seriously you two, this is getting annoying. Deal with this rubbish already so that it won't make you both liabilities we don't need."

When they both nodded Seth turned around and walked out of the simulation room, while picking up his bottle of water and taking his medicine and washing it down with water.

**...**

It was now lunch time and in the cafeteria, the crew were enjoying their food while keeping their distance from the table where a certain Gradian was sitting as he had a face that said 'I'm too pissed off right now.' while he ate. Why? Thanks to what's going on between Hibiki and Dita, Seth was once again reminded about his past relationship with a certain person on Gradius before he cut ties with them.

_Flashback..._

_Seth was sitting in his usual spot at the back of the only cafe where he wasn't treated like shit. The owner of it was neutral to him and only cared about the business, so as long as he paid for his coffee she didn't mind his presence. Unfortunately other store owners tried to harass her for that but she changed their minds fast after waving her weaponry at them since she's an ex-soldier._

_Seth was enjoying his French vanilla while reading a novel. His reading was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching his table. High heels, meaning a woman. He didn't raise his head to look at the person yet as he had no interest in talking to her anyways. Until she spoke..._

_"Seth?"_

_That voice! Of all the people to show up why her?! Seth was tempted to get up and beat the crap out of the woman but kept his anger in check as he looked up. The woman in front of him had black hair tied in a ponytail, green eyes, and creamy skin. She wore a red dress that was open at the shoulders and did nothing to hide her cleavage, a red belt around her waist, black stockings and red high heels._

_"What the hell do you want 'skank'?" Seth asked with restrained anger._

_The woman looked away from Seth when he called her that. The owner of the cafe just shook her head and went back to her work while the other customers ignored them. The woman then sat in the other chair and looked at Seth and was unnerved by his soul piercing glare._

_"Well? What do you want?" _

_"To talk."_

_"What the hell is there to even talk about? Aren't you with that playboy of a boyfriend? So why the hell are you here?"_

_"Rugal's dead. He was murdered last week."_

_"And so what? Why are you telling me this?"_

_"He's your cousin. Don't you care?"_

_"He's a thug, playboy, grade S asshole and a waste of space. Why should I care?"_

_"He's part of your family!"_

_"He's not! Never was and never will be as far as I'm concerned. To those jack asses known as Verons he's family."_

_"Seth..."_

_"You still haven't answered my question skank!"_

_"Stop calling me that! Why can't you call me by my name?"_

_"Hard to with your choice of clothing not to mention the fact that you're nothing but a traitor. Anyways get the hell out of my sight. I want nothing to do with you, you traitorous skank."_

_"But Seth...I thought you had a crush on me? You wanted to go out with me remember? I thought we could-"_

_"Get back together?! Are you fucking serious?! You left me for that asshole you call my cousin and now that he's dead you come to me like I'm some fallback guy to use? You disgust me." _

_Seth got up from his seat, picked up his book and walked away. On the way he paid the cafe owner for his drink before continuing his exit from the establishment. The woman got up from her seat and followed after Seth. The other customers shook their heads in disbelief and pity._

_As the woman caught up to Seth she suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of a pistol held by an angry Seth._

_"Don't you dare follow me traitorous skank! Why don't you go whore yourself out to some shallow moron or better yet kill yourself and save them the trouble. As for you and me, I want nothing to do with you ever again! I never want to see you again Kara!"_

_Kara fell to her knees and began crying while Seth walked away, leaving the pitiful woman behind and never seeing her again. _

_Flashback End..._

**...**

Seth was so focused on the trip down memory lane that he didn't notice when Meia and Dita arrived at his table. It was when Meia tapped the table that he noticed both women.

"Mind if we join you?" Meia asked while Dita tried to avoid eye contact.

"Help yourselves." Seth said.

Both Meia and Dita sat across from the Gradian much to the surprise of the others. Meia noticed that Seth was in thought.

"Something on your mind?"

"Yes. Old memories coming back to annoy me. Not your concern anyways."

"They're that bad?"

"Yeah. And I'd rather not talk about them."

As time went by, Meia and Seth noticed that Dita had not touched her lunch yet. Seth then looked elsewhere as he noticed that Hibiki was sitting all alone on his table.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Meia asked Dita.

"I've decided that I'm going to change myself. Because I know it's bad for Mr. Alien the way I am now." Dita said. Unfortunately that did not sit well with Seth who punched the table, leaving an imprint of his fist on it and looked at Dita.

"Don't even think about it Dita. You're fine the way you are." Seth stated, "Besides if you decided to just act completely different I'll think that there's something wrong with you."

"Really?" Dita asked and she noticed that Hibiki was watching her. Seeing Dita's eyes meet with his Hibiki quickly returned to his food swiftly gulping it down.

"Yes, really. Don't you go changing yourself alright?" Seth said with a smile. He then got up and made his way towards Hibiki and whispered, _"And you should man the fuck up and apologize!"_ After that he left the cafeteria.

**...**

Jura is in her room with a guest who was very suspicious about the blonde woman in front of him.

Bart had no idea as to why he was called in by Jura and was very suspicious of her due to being taught from birth that women were not to be trusted and were conniving, deceitful, and had ulterior motives. So far none of that was going on.

"What exactly is it you want from me?" Bart asked, getting the ball rolling.

"I want you to help me on something." Jura answered.

Bart looked on in surprise. The very idea of a woman asking a man for help was...unexpected...and this piqued his curiosity.

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"You see, Dita has been getting in my way, managing to get your fellow man Hibiki for herself. I'd like you to play baby sitter and keep her occupied until I can finally be able to combine with him." Jura explained to Bart.

"Okay...so what's in it for me?" Bart asked.

"Simple. You help me and I'll help you gain more respect and be treated like royalty on this ship. I bet that you would like that, won't you?" Jura answered.

"Royalty, huh?" Bart wondered as he pictured himself being respected more and treated like a king, "That doesn't sound bad."

"Of course it doesn't and I want to do it soon!" Jura said. The two start laughing at the plan.

**...**

Seth was walking down the hallway when he sees Dita running down the hallway. He also noticed that she was crying and wondered why. Then he noticed the direction she was coming from and then got his answer.

"Asshole!" he growled as he swiftly walked towards the men's quarters. Standing in the doorway, Seth spotted Hibiki sitting by his bed with Pyoro not far from him. He instantly drew out his kukri and threw it at the youth. The projectile grazed the side of Hibiki's head and got embedded in the wall causing Hibiki and Pyoro to jump in the air yelling in terror. They traced where the kukri came from and saw a very pissed off Gradian walking towards them. Grabbing the teen by his neck Seth lifted him and smashed him against the wall.

"You little shit! I thought I told you to man up and fix this mess you created! Instead you just made things worse!" Seth yelled, "That girl has only been trying her hardest to be friends with you and all you do in return is make her feel like shit, well that ends here!"

Pausing he grabbed the kukri and pulled it from the wall before he held it in front of Hibiki's left eye. "You have one chance to make this right or the next time you fuck up will be your last!" Seth tossed Hibiki into the wall like a rag doll and left the room.

**...**

In the cafeteria, Ezra was eating a large cake and enjoying it too. She heard the door open and looked, only to gasp as she saw Dita rush inside in tears.

"Dita?"

"EZRA!"

The redhead rushed into Ezra's arms and cried her heart out and the other woman could only try to comfort her.

…

Seth walked into Reg Central to see Hibiki and Gascogne playing poker and needless to say Hibiki was getting owned very badly in the game. It also didn't help that he sucked too.

"AW NUTS!" Hibiki shouted out in frustration as Gascogne swept away the winnings.

"To be honest kid, you are the worst card player I've played with." Gascogne said to Hibiki.

"Oh yeah! Give me another hand! When I beat you, you'll be regretting those words!" Hibiki shouted.

Deck was shuffled and another hand was dealt out.

Hibiki looked at his cards and smirked as he showed his hand. "Check this out! Three of a Kind."

Gascogne smirked and showed hers. "Full House."

Hibiki's eye's twitched in anger as he watched Gascogne shuffle the deck then deal out another hand. Seth just sighed at how terrible the boy was at the game. His hotheadedness made him way too predictable.

"Four of a kind!" Hibiki yelled, showing his hand.

"Straight flush." Gascogne said showing her hand.

_'Owned again.' _Seth thought. _'Seriously the boy sucks!' _Having seen enough he left the room.

"Nuts! I've had it! What's the point of all this anyway?!" Hibiki whined.

"The point of cards is to read your opponents through their face or body language." Gascogne explained, "And with your attitude you've basically made yourself easy to predict." She then decided to talk about another issue as she shuffled the deck.

"What's going on with your partner? And not your machine I mean Dita." Gascogne asked.

"Why is she my partner?!" Hibiki asked.

"You two seem to be a good combination to me." Gascogne stated.

"Well I don't think so! She's very annoying!" Hibiki said, "Come on one more hand! I swear I'm going to win everything back this time!"

"That's not going to happen." Gascogne told him, "Like I said earlier this is a game that requires the opponents to read each other's minds. With the way you've been today you might as well been showing me your hand the entire time. Come back when you've calmed down a bit."

"How about you mind your own business?!" Hibiki shouted as he stormed out of the room. As he left Reg Central, he runs into none other than Pyoro once again. Both looked at each other.

"What is it?" Hibiki asked.

"Are you lonely?" Pyoro asked back.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Hibiki said in annoyance.

"Because…Dita's very lonely too." Pyoro replied, stunning the Tarak teen.

With that the Navi-robot left to look for Dita leaving Hibiki by himself in the hallway. Hibiki scratched his head and tried to figure out how the heck he was going to do to deal with this situation.

"Finally deciding to man up huh?"

Hibiki trembled in fear before he slowly turned around to see Seth standing in the hallway.

"Am I right or wrong?" Seth asked again.

"W-w-well I'm t-trying to think of a way to deal with my problem!" Hibiki answered nervously.

"In other words you're manning up. Good." Seth said.

"Huh?"

Suddenly the alarm goes off, making the older man sigh.

"How convenient." Seth deadpanned before rushing to the hangar.

**...**

The Alpinia rushed into space, followed by the dreads and the vanguard to engage the Harvesters once again. After Meia gave out the formation commands to the dreads, she noticed that someone is missing.

"Where's Jura? She's supposed to be out here!"

Barnette placed a gloved hand over her mouth as she suddenly remembered where her friend was.

"Uh-oh!"

Meanwhile the missing pilot in question is still in the room with Bart and both are drinking alcohol.

"Cheers!" They both said in unison.

"After I combine with him, a new and elegant Vandread will be created."

"And I will be the new captain of the Nirvana."

They then both laugh hysterically afterward.

"Enemies first. Absentees later." Seth shouted as he shot down a cube fighter.

The vanguard approaches the blue dread.

"Hey, annoying girl!"

The redhead looked at the monitor to see Hibiki's face in it.

"Listen. I...um…how should I say this…?"

Hibiki scratched his head as he tried to figure out what to say.

"I'm...uh...sorry for yelling at you earlier. Just keep being who you are, okay?"

The apology certainly makes Dita happy as she smiles at him.

"Right! Let's combine Mr. Alien!"

"Right!"

The vanguard and the blue dread combine to form the Vandread Dita and the giant mech flies off to engage the opposition.

Inside the cockpit of the Alpinia, Seth smiles at the combined machine.

"Glad that's over with." he said, "At least their relationship will bloom and last."

Seth shakes his head to prevent himself from reminiscing.

_'No. That one ended due to her betrayal and I was right to cut my ties with her.' _he thought to himself.

**...**

Hours after the battle ended Seth was in his room resting before knocking on his door got his attention. He sighed and got up to answer the door and saw a female security guard in front of the entrance.

"The Captain wants to see you in the conference room now!" she said before stomping off.

"Sheesh what's her problem?" thought Seth before he went to grab his trench coat and tied his duragg on his head.

**...**

"Are you sure this is necessary Captain?" BC asked.

"Yes it is. We need to confirm this before we do anything else Buzam." Magno said, "If what Duero found out is correct then we'll have to be very careful."

"True but the question is, how is he going to react to what we tell him?" Gascogne asked.

Then the doors to the conference room opened and in came Seth Reager. The Gradian saw Magno, BC and Gascogne and he noticed that they were a bit tense which made him suspicious and put him on guard.

"You requested to see me Captain?" he spoke up.

* * *

**Chapter VIII End.**

**Looks like something has come up and some things are about to come to light. Like my dad says, "Nothing stays hidden under the sun." Next chapter will reveal some important info, many having to do with the Gradius pilot.**


	9. Loyalty

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. **

**Chapter IX: Loyalty**

* * *

Back in the conference room, Magno, BC and Gascogne were about to begin what would be a very important talk with Seth Reager, the Gradius mercenary pilot that was currently a part of the Nirvana's crew, and by important talk they meant something that could change a lot of things.

When he arrived in the conference room and saw the serious looks on their faces, Seth quickly figured out that something big had come up and he was at the center of it.

As for how it got to this point it started when Duero went to talk with the three major officers on the ship.

**...**

_An hour and thirty minutes earlier..._

_"Good afternoon __Captain, Commander, Gascogne. Thank you for coming here. I felt that this was very important and needed to be addressed right away." Duero greeted._

_"No worries Doctor. As you said this is very important and needed to come to our attention." Magno said, "So what is the issue?"_

_Duero sighed wearily as he felt that he was about to open Pandora's Box here. A part of him wanted to unsee what he saw about Seth Reager. He also had no idea how Magno and the other two would react to this. But Magno was the captain of this ship and the lives of every member of the crew were her responsibility thus had the right to know about anything that might threaten them. Just as he was the doctor and therefore obligated and morally bound to inform her of possible dangers._

_"This is about Seth Reager." Duero answered, "What I'm about to tell you may shock you as it did shock me. Please follow me." He led them to his table where he had a folder that had the Gradian's name on it. "This is the medical file I managed to acquire containing Seth Reager's medical history through his ID tags when he was down due to his high blood pressure." _

_He opened the folder and gave it to the captain, who accepted it and began to turn the pages while BC and Gascogne looked over her shoulder. What they saw did shock them. There were x-ray images showing broken bones, and poor jobs by doctors to fix such injuries. There were photos of stab wounds, cuts, and bruises, signs of malnutrition, reports of food poisoning, cases of high blood pressure and the comments from doctors who wished 'the problem child' had died already. Then there were psychiatric reports that mentioned anti-social behavior, bad temper, mental disorder and potential risk of Seth becoming a danger to society and suggestions to admit him into the ward. _

_"What the hell is this?!" Gascogne asked in anger._

_"Seth Reager's childhood in a nutshell." Duero answered, "It looked like those people on Gradius did all they could to put him through hell and even kill him."_

_"All I see here is child abuse! And neglect by the medical staff to help him." Magno said, "What about the parents? There's no way they could allow this to go on."_

_"The answer to that is in there Captain." Duero stated._

_The three officers continued reading and found the answer, but not one they expected._

_"So Seth's real parents Sain and Yuri Veron neglected him and left him to the wolves while they focused on their daughter. It was his adoptive parents known as Jon and Mary Reager that picked up the slack and tried to repair the damage." BC said._

_"Seems so. Not to mention that his adoptive parents-" Magno said before she stopped and her eyes widened in realization. BC and Gascogne noticed her look and checked it and they too reached the same conclusion._

_"-are the same diplomats that came to Mejere but were tortured and killed by those Vixen Squadron morons." Gascogne completed._

_"And they recorded it all and sent it to their child who was Seth then." Magno added, "The death of the ones he considered his real family was the breaking point for him and also what brought Mejere the wrath of Gradius." _

_It was also then Gascogne realized something too._

_"Now that you mention that, I remember Seth telling me about the same child becoming a Gradius pilot and shooting down the Vixen Squadron. Seth was just talking about himself all along. Can't believe I didn't see that."_

_"What do you mean?" BC asked._

_"The last time he came to Reg Central, I asked him about the incident and he answered as if he knew the kid that was affected, only that he was talking about himself." Gascogne stated._

_"And he's also the Gradius pilot that had the highest kill count out of the squad that Gradius sent in retaliation." Magno summed up._

_"Highest kill count?" BC asked, "So you mean that he's the one that Mejere's military have held a grudge against, to the point of putting a bounty on his head? Something that they brought on themselves by killing his adoptive parents and sending him that video too."_

_"Even with all that he still doesn't consider everyone on Mejere to be monsters." Gascogne said._

_"At least he's rational enough to know that." Magno said, "Still this brings up another issue. Seth Reager himself." _

**...**

"So...what's going on?" Seth asked, though he had an idea what was coming.

Magno closed her eyes and sighed before she looked Seth straight in the eye. "We know who you are Seth Reager."

"What are you saying? Of course you know who I am. I told you so in the beginning." Seth deadpanned.

"No. Not that. I mean we know about you, your parents and why you hate Mejere a lot." BC said, "We know that you're the adoptive son of Jon and Mary Reager, the ones that came as emissaries to Mejere for a diplomatic mission but that didn't end well as some of the women in our government decided to spit in Gradius' face by killing the man and torturing the woman. Worse they recorded the events on video and sent it to their son as they had seen a photo of the couple with their son, and the ones that killed them wanted to mess with their child just for kicks."

Seth's expression turned cold as he listened.

"We know that you were that child." Magno said, "And we know also that that is the reason why you and Gradius despised Mejere."

"What's your point?" Seth asked coldly.

"We'd like to tell us about your life from your point of view." Magno said, which got her a scoff in return.

"My point of view? Seriously?" Seth asked, "Here's my point of view: My parents were a bunch of arrogant, neglectful fucks with a lot of prestige in Gradius that spent too much time doting on their _sweet _daughter. At first when she was born I was glad to have a sibling and at first didn't have an issue with her getting the attention, which soon escalated into full blown neglect! I felt like a total stranger to my own family and they acted like I didn't exist as my parents began training my sister to follow their footsteps as Gradius pilots. I wanted to also become one too but they just ignored me as usual. I went so far to doing pranks and causing trouble just to get their attention. My antics worked in doing so but only put me into trouble and made things worse. They went so far to see me as a failure and black sheep! What rubbish when they didn't even teach me anything. That same sister became an arrogant bitch who did everything possible to make my life hell. She set me up to take the fall for so many stunts she pulled and of course every fool back on Gradius including those ones took her side! Eventually I became a delinquent and made their lives hell. A result of their own making I might add. After my parents and I had a nasty fallout I moved out of the house and fended for myself since there was no way I'd continue living with those fucks. And guess what: they didn't even care or notice when I left. The only ones who did were their friends the Reagers and a former Gradius pilot named Miranda who was the sibling I wished I actually had. They tried to help but I told them not to bother, least they became public enemies because of me."

"Then it was that day that my life went to hell. My _family _went on a training trip to prepare their brat for the Gradius Academy and I was taking whatever job I could to pay for my education. Believe it or not the Harvesters came to Gradius and attacked us. They managed to get us off guard but we recovered pretty quickly and drove them back."

"Hold on. The Harvesters attacked Gradius?" BC asked.

"Yes they did and it wasn't pretty but like I said we beat them back." Seth replied, "However after the battle, an investigation was done as there was no way the enemy could have caught us off guard like that. It was discovered that there was a security breach and that someone had shut down our radar system. That was treason right there. However someone pointed their finger at me and accused me of being the perpetrator. There was no proof at all and initially no one believed them. Sure I was well known as a delinquent but people also knew that there was no way in hell I'd compromise the safety of Gradius or even commit treason, that is until false evidence came up from nowhere that somehow put me on the spot and before I could even understand what the hell was happening I was convicted and later put on death row two years later after many attempts on my life. I was just 15 and I was put on death row!"

Magno and BC gasped while Gascogne was tightening her fists in rage.

"As for my _family_, they were nowhere to be found and even when the Reagers informed them they ignored them, telling them that they weren't surprised that I ended up locked up. Then the justice system saw it fit to give me the death penalty when I became of age and worse my _family _suggested it. The Reagers and Miranda pulled off all the stops to save my life and prove my innocence and fortunately they found proof that those false evidence were as they were false evidence! They reopened my case and this time I was vindicated and released while the real perpetrator was locked up. The same day I got out was also the best day of my life as the Reagers chose to adopt me into their family, which I happily accepted while also denouncing my old name. And since they were ex-pilots like my parents they offered to train me and I accepted. Other people had tried to apologize to me but I only gave them the cold shoulder. There were also those who didn't care and still saw me as a criminal and I didn't give a damn about them. Worse was that those neglectful fucks came back and wanted me back in the family. When they found out that I was framed after all they felt like fools and realized how stupid they were. They were coming with promises of training me and a chance to be a family again. Something they failed to do in the first place! I told them to go screw themselves and that I wouldn't abandon my family like they did. The Reagers too would have none of it either when those fools came to them to demand that they give me back to them."

"Let me guess your former family didn't give up, right?" Gascogne asked.

"Right. They were persistent in getting me back, even their brat tried to mend bridges and get her brother back. What a load of crap. Even when I joined the Gradius Academy she wouldn't stop pestering me." Seth answered, "But that wasn't the only problem I had to deal with, the fact that I was an ex-con, even when I was cleared of charges made me a target to certain morons who felt that the justice system fucked up in letting me go. They were right about the justice system messing up but wrong about the reason why. Anyways I went on with my much better life until I graduated at the top of the class, even beating the brat who had all the training her parents gave her. Then when they assigned us to different squads I ended up being assigned to one with _her _in it. Something my parents had a hand in as a way to hope that I'll end up becoming close to my sister if we worked together. Well that turned out to be a disaster as I never got along with her or just ignored her existence. It was after that that everything else happened which you know about."

"The day that your parents died and the Red Vixens Squadron sent you that video." BC stated.

"Yes, the very same one that basically made me hate Mejere and also signed that squadron's death warrant. I had never been that pissed off in my life and when the mission to retaliate came up I jumped on it, mostly just for revenge against them. Of course the brat came along for that mission too." Seth continued, "As I shot down each and every member of the Red Vixens Squadron I felt more and more alive as I heard them scream in terror, but I think I also got blood thirsty and crazy too, which scared the other squad members. When it was all over I didn't even realize that I had a very high kill count, only thing I felt was satisfaction and I could now mourn for my parents. That also got the High Command concerned when they got our reports and so were the brat and her parents as they thought I was going insane. Of course they tried to get me off the unit and into a much safer role but I wouldn't have any of that crap. Sometime later, I was sent on another mission with the brat and one of her friends and it was at the end of the successful mission that I had enough of Gradius' hospitality and left for good. So that's my past in a nutshell. Now may I know why you needed me to recall all that?"

"Well when you told us that you were from Gradius, we were cautious because of the bad blood between our planets, but your last name also raised even more red flags. Then the day when you were in the clinic thanks to your high blood pressure Duero checked your ID tag and saw your medical history and the names of your adopted parents and he revealed it to us, that confirmed it for us." Magno answered.

"We also know that you're part of that squadron that was sent as retaliation for what Mejere did. And we also know about your kill count that day, quite the number you did on Mejere's squadrons." Gascogne added, "Your actions alone in that battle terrified and enraged the Mejerian military, as not only did you kill a lot of pilots that day, you took out the Red Vixens squadron, the most elite Dread Squadron and also the ones that brought both you and Gradius' wrath."

"But the worst part was that you and your squad, especially you, also made a mockery of the dreads which were the pride of the Mejerian military. In fact Mejere put a huge bounty on your head, which is even higher than what they put on most criminals." BC finished.

After hearing about the bounty, Seth immediately became very tense as he was already thinking that he was going to be betrayed and was already thinking of his next moves.

Seeing his reaction, Magno raised her hand to reassure the Gradian.

"I assure you that no one on this ship is going to betray you. You're a member of my crew and you've proven yourself to us already even when you had every reason not to, which we are grateful for. But if you no longer desire to be part of the crew, then you are free to leave and we'll respect that decision and not take it against you."

Seth, Buzam and Gascogne were all surprised by what the captain said, especially Seth whose eyes were wide. She was willing to let him leave the crew and not hold any grudges against him for it. Seth knew that Magno was right about him having every right to leave the crew especially since he still hated Mejere. Even though he had gotten payback against the Red Vixens Squadron for what they did to his adoptive parents it still wasn't enough to satisfy him.

Also he had begun to enjoy being in the Nirvana and around her crew. Sure there were still some of the women who still didn't trust him like Barnette and he couldn't give a damn, there were also others he was starting to get along with the others and grown to respect too: The elderly captain Magno, her second in command BC, even though he felt something off about her, Gascogne, Ezra, Duero, Dita, Jura, even Meia who had been a bitch earlier before she got her wakeup call and Hibiki the arrogant brat who was now starting to man up. There were still others that were still neutral to him only because they wanted to see for themselves before they decided whether to trust him or not.

Besides he still had a mission to accomplish and one last thing that needed to be done before he could be finally vindicated. And there was also the Harvesters that were still gunning for them. But with what he'd just heard such a decision became more difficult to make.

The three women waited in anticipation for Seth's answer.

"I'd rather think about this before I give you my full answer. The answer's not as easy as some would think." Seth responded.

"Sure. Take all the time you need. We'll be awaiting your decision." Magno said.

Seth stood to his feet and saluted. "Thank you…Captain."

…

Seth was in the hangar bay performing maintenance on the Alpinia just to pass time and do some thinking. Telling the three main officers on the Nirvana his shitty past was something he'd never thought he'd do as it's one that he never liked to talk about or even remember which he unfortunately still did. While he somehow felt better talking about his past to them he still felt enraged when he talked about it. After the talk Magno had allowed him more time to make up his mind about his next action. He could leave the Nirvana crew right there and now or stay and continue to be a member of the crew, something he found uneasy to decide. Soon Seth was done with his ship and was back in his room and on his bed. For some reason he felt tired from his minor work on his ship and so he decided to get some rest. Unknown to him the moment he did that, the Nirvana crew got a front row seat to more of his secrets.

Suddenly multiple monitors materialized all over the ship and began playing. Many of the crew looked on in confusion at what was going on and wondered why such a thing was happening.

"What's going on captain?" BC asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine Buzam." Magno replied.

Then the monitors began playing as it showed a first person point of view of someone….stealing from shops, stalls and even food trucks just to get by. Next it showed his home. A small apartment room devoid of life as it was nothing but black, white, and gray. There was just a TV, a bed, chair, table, a single couch, a small kitchen and a bathroom. This reminded some of the female crew members and Hibiki himself about their lives back on their respective planets.

The scene then changed to show the same person fighting in back alleys. Meia winced at as she also had to go through that in her life when growing up on the mean streets of Mejere.

Then the scene changed to show the same person but this time in chains being led through prison? That was surprising for the crew.

"_Welcome to your new home…traitor!" A male voice said. Suddenly the chains were removed from the person before they got flung into a cell. The camera went up to show two people who were prison guards, one male and one female. The male guard just sneered at the person and walked away while the female guard looked on in pity and she muttered, "Such a waste of youth."_

_After they left the prisoner looked up at the ceiling and began muttering and the voice belonged to a young male._

"_Okay….how the hell did I end up here? Oh wait…..the bullshit justice system." _

"That child's barely a teen and he's already in prison." BC said, "What did he even do to end up here?"

"That guard did call him a traitor. So the question is who did he betray to get himself in prison?"

_The scene changes to show the person in the same prison being cornered by many prisoners, many of them armed with shanks, shards of glass, steel pipes and even brass knuckles? _

"No way….they're actually…." Paiway began.

"Yes unfortunately they are going to attack this person." Duero finished for her. _'Though the question is who? I have an idea but I'd like to be sure.'_

_The prisoners rushed at the person and begun to savagely attack him with their weapons. The individual in question managed to get a few good hits in and even incapacitate a few but he was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers the mob had. From the corner of the person's eye they saw the prison guards just watching the event unfold in front of them and doing nothing about it._

"How can they just watch and do nothing?" Ezra cried in anger at seeing the barbaric beating this person was receiving.

"That's prison for you." Magno said, "The prisoners attack each other and not care about the consequences, but you're right about the wardens not doing. It's their job to keep order in the prisons too."

_Luckily the unlucky person got a break when the prison warden came in and shouted at the guards to do their job and they stopped the beating and rounded up the mob. As for the victim himself he was alive, but just barely. The warden then ordered the guards to take him to the prison's sick bay. The guards reluctantly obeyed as they feared their superior's wrath. The guards dropped the person at the sick bay and the warden ordered the doctor and nurses there to treat him. When they asked who the victim was the warden just told them another unlucky prisoner. The person in question passed out after that._

"Even though that warden didn't care for the kid he still did his job." Gascogne said.

"Maybe so Miss Gasco but shouldn't the guards have helped him without the warden ordering them?" asked a Reg Central worker.

"You're right. They should have done their jobs but they didn't for dumb reasons." Gascogne replied ignoring the girl's blunder with her name.

_The scene then changed to show the inside of a dark and much smaller room with just a toilet, a bed and a mirror. The only form of light was from the moonlight coming through the lone window in the room. Once again from the eyes of the owner the young man walked towards the mirror. The person looked at his reflection which showed a young man with long hair reaching his back, with the right side of his face covered by the bangs of his hair, his uncovered black eye void of life and scars all over his athletic figure as he only wore prison trousers. _

Many of the women were shocked by the person whose face they finally saw and the scars he had. Though some of them were blushing as they strangely found themselves attracted to the young man.

"_Two years. Just two years. I'm 15 years old, I'm now on death row and now those retarded fucks have wasted no time in giving me the death sentence. Worse, those shitheads that call themselves my family encouraged it." The young man said, "They call me a failure yet they never even raised me properly. They wasted their fucking time doting on that spoilt brat! They are the real failures! They failed as parents."_

His words shocked everyone once more as they heard about how his own family wanted him to get executed and their neglect and favoritism. As for Magno, BC, Gascogne and Duero, they instantly knew who this person was.

'_So this is your life story, Seth?' _Magno thought sadly.

'_I'm surprised that he's still sane right now.' _BC and Duero thought.

'_And I thought I've seen worse crap, but they all pale in comparison to this.' _Gascogne thought in anger.

_The scene changed once more to show Seth shadowing a group of five prisoners from his perspective. It was dark due to a power outage and there was little light around but the young man could see well in the dark due to being used to his time on death row. These five men were on their way to his cell as they were talking about how they'd take advantage of the blackout to kill him, unfortunately their target had other plans__._

_Seth snuck up on the first one and slit his throat before stabbing him in the head to shut him up. One of the dead guy's comrades turned around after hearing something drop only to get a knife to the forehead and ending him. Seth walked up to the corpse and pulled his weapon from it and silently continued his hunt._

"_Two scumbags down. Three more to send to hell." He said._

The Nirvana crew did not take the young man's actions well. Some got sick very quickly and ran off to empty their stomachs. Those with stronger constitution could only look on in shock as they'd seen the young teen take the lives of two grown men and not bat an eyelash. Magno, BC and Gascogne could only silently lament at the loss of Seth's innocence, all thanks to a neglectful family, false evidence, injustice and close call with death.

_Seth continued stalking his prey__,__ unaware that they were the hunted. The three prisoners had gotten upstairs and continued towards the solitary confinement area. One of them who was trailing behind the two suddenly felt something sharp hit his spine and next thing he knew he was screaming as he fell over the railing to the bottom floor before the abrupt stop finished him off. The remaining two prisoners heard the scream of their comrade and realized that something was wrong. They began panicking and looking around for the others and noticed the silence which told them that they were gone too._

_Suddenly one of the two guys got a chain wrapped around his neck and pulled up very quickly. As he struggled to escape his predicament he barely noticed the shape of a person going down another chain before his neck snapped and went silent__.__ And then there was one. The last guy was now freaking out and had even peed on himself. What seemed to be a simple gang up and shank turned into them being the hunted with the hunter already taking out most of them. The man kept looking around but it was no use as there was nothing but darkness around him. Bad for him as his soon to be killer silently stood behind him__.__ Then in a flash the man collapsed onto his back, drowning in his own blood after having his throat slit. While he was slowly dying the lights started to flick back on and it was then that he managed to see his killer standing over him…the same one he and his friends had wanted to kill__._

"_Say hi to the Grim Reaper for me." Seth said before he vanished just as the lights fully came on. _

…

After that there was just static before the monitors went off and leaving the crew bamboozled, stunned, horrified and sad. But apart from a few of them they all wondered what they all saw and whose perspective they were all watching from. And another question came to mind, where was that person now?

…

Just as the video finished playing, Seth woke up from his sleep and yawned as he slowly got up from his bed. He sat at the edge of his bed with a hand covering his face and sighed in annoyance as he felt like crap, just like other times he woke up back on Gradius or at different colonies and planets he'd been to. All because of his nightmares.

'_Just great!' _Seth sighed, '_It's like my past just doesn't want to be forgotten just yet, even though I'm trying to move on with my life! Damn it all!'_

After a quick wash of his face, the Gradian walked out of his room and made his way towards the cafeteria for lunch. Along the way he noticed many of the crew members talking amongst themselves. Whatever the topic was it was big as almost everyone he saw was talking about it but he ignored it as he didn't give a damn. When he got to the cafeteria he went to get his lunch and walked over to a table at the far end and began to eat while he finally made up his mind about his next move.

"Mind if I join you?" Seth looked up to see Meia with her tray containing her lunch.

"Go ahead." As Meia sat down across from him Seth began picking at his lunch. "So what's got the whole crew in such a fuzz?" he asked.

"You didn't see it?" Meia asked.

"See what? I've been asleep in case you didn't know. I just woke up for lunch." Seth said dryly.

"Well a video played all over the ship. It was quite _interesting _as it reminded me of my past in a way. It was shown from the first person perspective of someone who'd been through hell and it's been the talk of the crew ever since." Meia explained.

"Really? Do tell." Seth deadpanned.

"You sound like you're not interested in it."

"I see no reason to be. I don't like hearing about people's sad pasts, nor do I care to hear it from them. Everyone has had to deal with some kind of crap in their lives and I'm no exception. Some wallow in too much self-pity and become stagnant or destroy themselves and some put it all in the rear view mirror and move on with their lives. You and I are in the latter category as we're dealing with the present instead of letting the past bother us too much."

Seth looked up at the ceiling and just sighed in annoyance. "Besides what's done is done. Nothing we can do about it. All we can do is move forward with our lives. Letting your past hold you back only does harm to yourself."

"What if your past keeps coming back to haunt you or finally catches up with you?" Meia asked.

Seth stayed silent as he thought about what Miranda told him before he left for that assignment that got him into this mess. The task force Gradius sent to bring him in. And her gut feeling about the job being so wrong and her worry for him.

"Well I see no point in dealing with what ifs, maybes or any other form of speculations." Seth answered, "I'd rather just deal with what's in front of me right now and deal with everything else as it comes." With that his mind had been made up and was going to let the captain know of his decision.

Funny enough the alarm went off showing that the enemy had shown up. Seth and the crew wasted no time moving to engage them.

…

In the bridge Magno and Buzam saw the monitor show up with Seth on it.

"Seth Reager of the Nirvana reporting for duty and I'm sure as hell not trading it for anything else! Anyways permission to continue serving on the Nirvana?"

Magno smirked. "Permission granted Seth."

"Thank you Captain." Seth responded. The transmission ended and Magno smiled and Buzam just shook her head while smirking.

* * *

**Chapter IX End.**

**This was actually a two part** **intermission chapter which I decided to just put together as one. Many of you have complained about Seth's fast development and so I decided to slow it down then. Hopefully things turn out better this way.**


	10. Payback

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius.**

**Chapter X: Payback**

* * *

"So that is what a Mission looks like? I've never seen one before." BC commented as she looked at the ancient space station through the viewing screen with Magno.

The crew had found the abandoned space station which looked nothing more than a derelict. After that Magno sent a salvage team consisting of Meia, Dita, Jura, Barnette, Hibiki, Pyoro and Seth to investigate this derelict and scavenge for supplies.

"I remember them from my youth. They prospered during the Colonization Era, serving as havens and supply depots for travelers and merchants." Magno explained, "However that time has gone and now it just stays there, hopefully we can find something useful from that thing."

…

"I can't believe I let the captain rope me into this." Seth whined as he kicked a random piece of junk away from him. The man was in his flight suit and had his hair tied into a ponytail. "I'm a freaking pilot for crying out loud, not a scavenger!"

"If you didn't want to come along then why didn't you say so?" Barnette asked.

"Oh I did say so, but the old lady wouldn't have any of it." Seth groaned, "She was mouthing off about me needing to clear my head and do something more productive than just working on my fighter, exercising, eating and sleeping."

"Well the captain does have a point. I mean all you mostly do is work on that ship of yours, spend time in the gym, eat and sleep in your room or the hangar." Jura pointed out.

"I don't think I want to hear that from someone who's been spending most of her time trying to maintain their beauty, practicing their swordsmanship or hanging around Barnette all day while cooking up another plot to get Hibiki or me to fuse with you." Seth countered.

"Hey! What's wrong with trying to fuse with you two to create something beautiful?" Jura protested.

"You trying to force the issue is what's wrong." Seth countered again.

Meanwhile Dita was listening attentively to Pyoro's explanation of the Mission, and Hibiki too was looking around for salvage.

"That's enough you guys. We've got a lot of work to do here and you're wasting time talking." Meia said to Dita and Pyoro, "And Seth quit whining and get to work."

"I'm on guard duty, which is more or less work." Seth said nonchalantly while looking up.

"This is work? All you're doing is stealing!" Pyoro complained.

"We're not stealing...we're salvaging parts and equipment that is no longer being used. Besides this station is abandoned and no one lives here anymore, and we can use what we salvage for good use." Meia explained to the robot.

Suddenly a gun shot went off causing everyone to stop whatever they were doing and turn towards where it came from to see Seth pointing his pistol at the rafters.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" Hibiki yelled.

"Zip it! We're not alone here." Seth warned.

"What do you mean? Did you see something?" Barnette asked.

"I heard movement up the rafters, shot at it and heard something running off." Seth answered, "Looks like I spooked it, I'm going after it."

"I'm coming with you." Hibiki volunteered.

"Sure…Meia I suggest you inform the Nirvana that we aren't alone here."

Meia wasted no time getting her communicator to contact the Nirvana and inform them about someone else onboard the Mission.

Seth, Hibiki and Pyoro moved down the hallway where the strange thing ran to. They arrived at a room and began looking around. For a while it seemed like there was nothing around.

"Tch! You sure you're not hallucinating Seth?" Hibiki asked in annoyance.

"Keep your guard up. There's definitely something here." Seth said.

Suddenly something jumped down from a support beam above Hibiki and Pyoro and landed in front of them.

"What the heck are you supposed to be?!" Hibiki asked in confusion. Seth just turned to what it and lowered his gun.

The creature in front of them was an orangutan with red fur and judging by the clothing it was wearing, it appeared to be female. That got the Gradian's attention as he felt that he'd seen that animal before.

The orangutan first looked at Hibiki and Seth and ignored them before she turned her attention to the floating robot and before anyone could react she dropped whatever she was carrying, leaped at the robot and tackled it and before the males' eyes, the primate began to lick the Navi-robot all over much to Hibiki's confusion, Seth's amusement and Pyoro's absolute discomfort which it made known.

"AAAAUGGGHHHHH! STOP IT! THAT'S SO DISGUSTING!"

"Knock it off, Utan!"

'_Utan?! So that means…he's here?!' _Seth thought.

The orangutan stopped what she was doing and ran off towards the person who called, apparently her master and showed Pyoro to him. Hibiki and Seth turned their gaze towards where the voice came from.

Walking into the light was a tall man who looked to be in his 30s. He had black hair tied in a ponytail. He had some stripes of tribal paint on his face and had an eye patch over his right eye. He was dressed in a tunic and pants with boots and the man was well built too. Seth's expression instantly darkened as he recognized the man.

Hibiki ran towards the stranger since he was glad that he is of the same gender, however Seth rushed right between him and the other man with his gun drawn out and pointed right at his head while the stranger did the same with his own gun all much to Hibiki's confusion.

"Well, well, well…If it isn't Rabat! The biggest piece of dog shit to ever exist." Seth said with a feral grin, "How are you doing, dog shit?"

"Seth Reager…" Rabat grumbled. "Fancy meeting you here."

"You know this guy Seth?" Hibiki asked.

"Oh I definitely know this piece of dog shit." Seth responded, while keeping his focus on his target.

"Seth! Hibiki!" called Meia as she, and the others caught up to them. When they arrived they were surprised to see Seth and another man pointing their guns at each other but what was more surprising was that the stranger was sweating bullets. Then Barnette came up beside the man and took his gun from him while Jura also came up beside him with her sword at his neck.

"About time you all caught up!" Seth said.

"Seth? Who's this?" Jura asked.

"A piece of dog shit." Seth dryly answered

"Be serious Seth!" Meia scolded.

"Okay he's Rabat. The biggest piece of dog shit ever known on this side of the galaxy!"

"You know him that well?"

"Yes I know him _very _well. We've crossed paths more than once."

"Whatever. The question is what he's doing here then?" Barnette asked.

"I'm a trader and I'm just looking for salvage just like you all are." Rabat said.

"I find that hard to believe considering your track record." Seth deadpanned.

"I'm surprised that you're with these women and that girl." Rabat countered as he motioned to Hibiki.

"What?! I'm a guy!" Hibiki snapped.

"Ignore him. He's just trying to mess with your head." Seth said, "Besides Rabat, it's not like you ever cared about anyone but yourself, dog shit! Anyways tell your pet to let go of the robot before I make her species extinct."

Seth pointed his gun at Utan while still facing Rabat. Then he fired his weapon and barely missed her head and freaking the animal out.

"HEY! Watch where you're pointing that!" Rabat shouted.

"Don't keep us waiting Rabat!" Seth warned.

Just as Rabat was about to command the primate, the derelict station began rumbling and caught everyone by surprise.

"Now Utan!" Rabat shouted.

The orangutan threw Pyoro at Meia but Seth quickly tackled her out of the way. Rabat made a dash for the exit while dodging a swipe from Jura's sword. Barnette was about to shoot her gun at the fleeing man but Utan landed on her head and leaped off after making her shot go off target. Seth quickly got himself and Meia up and he fired his weapon at Rabat and Utan.

"What's going on?" Meia contacted the Nirvana.

_"The Harvesters are attacking...we need you all back ASAP!" _

"Roger that!" Seth said.

Everyone quickly made their way to their ships to deal with the Harvesters. Meia, Jura, Dita, and Barnette to their Dreads, Hibiki to his Vanguard, and Seth to the Alpinia. Same for Rabat and Utan. As they got in Utan showed Rabat something that made him smile. In the group's rush to leave the station they forgot something important.

…

Out in space the Harvesters had begun their battle against the Nirvana with the Dreads, Vanguard and the Alpinia taking them on. Meanwhile Rabat was trying to avoid the battle in his own ship that resembled a combination of a small barge and yacht. However something caught his eye as he saw the lone Vanguard and the black, orange stripped space fighter making him decide to watch the battle instead.

The trader knew that the space fighter was not a dread not withstanding its other weaponry. Then he saw the four multiple phantom spheres that came out of it and then divided into sixteen more and began to devastate the opposition. That alone told him that it was a Gradius space fighter which he found surprising as he never expected a Gradius ship to be around here but it also explained another issue. As for the Vanguard it definitely did not look like the Vanguards of the men of Tarak but seemed to be holding its own very well. Then things got interesting…

…

After taking down another Cube Fighter, Hibiki got contacted by Jura who spoke in her usual seductive tone.

"Well now, let's combine and we can end this ourselves, what do you say?"

Hibiki however was not happy about that. "Are you still going off about that? Now's not the time for this!"

Still Jura was not about to give up just yet as she followed Hibiki's Vanguard, intent on fusing her dread with his vanguard. As she fought off several Cube Fighters, she was now closing the distance to her target and she was now going to create something beautiful…

But she got beaten to it as Dita's dread came out of nowhere and fused with Hibiki's vanguard to form Vandread Dita and the blonde was not happy about it.

"Dita! He was mine!"

"Sorry, but you snooze, you lose!"

"Grrr! I'll get you for that!"

Jura then turned her attention to the Alpinia as she saw another chance to create something beautiful through Seth's craft. Unfortunately she was denied once more as instead Seth fused with Barnette's dread instead.

"Barnette! How could you?!" Jura accused.

"Hey! Don't blame me Jura! He flew into me!" Barnette defended as she too was not happy to be in this mech again with Seth.

"Look alive you two! We still have a battle to finish!" Seth reminded them.

So the two combined mechs engaged the Harvester forces who were now focusing on them. Vandread Dita was shooting them down with its cannons while the other mech Seth had dubbed as 'Valkyrie' was slicing and dicing them with its gun blade and also bashing them around with its shield. Then Seth realized that the Mission was the area where the Harvesters were attacking from and therefore had to be destroyed.

"Too bad we'll have to destroy such resources…" Seth sighed, "But it's for the best. Yo! Hibiki!"

"What is it Seth!?" Hibiki answered.

"Let's take out that space station! It seems to be controlling these enemy units!"

"Is that so? Alright! Let's do this!"

Vandread Dita aimed its shoulder mounted cannons and The Valkyrie changed its weapon into an anti-material rifle and both aimed at the station. Both fired and destroyed their target and the other Harvester units in one combined blast.

Seth also noticed a familiar ship hiding in the distance from the battle which belonged to a certain spy.

"Tch. There's the spy once more."He muttered which Barnette heard.

"What is it Seth?" she asked.

"Nothing that concerns you." Seth replied. _'I have a feeling that that dog shit will be showing up soon.'_

Barnette just growled at Seth who ignored her and made his way back to the Nirvana with the others.

…

Rabat's eyes widened as he looked at the massive mechs. Those machines were nothing like he had ever seen before and their sheer destructive power and abilities made the trader's eyes alight in excitement. His mind was already calculating the amount of money he'd make for the sale of not just the dread and vanguard but the Gradius space fighter too, not to mention that he had certain clients that would love to get their hands on that space fighter especially. Only problem was the pilot of that machine whom he guessed would more than likely kill him if he got anywhere near the machine.

"Did you see what I just saw Utan?" The orangutan nodded back in reply, "Then it looks like we've just hit the jackpot."

However his excitement was interrupted by explosions shaking his ship. He looked up to see some Harvester units that had not been around earlier. Rabat looked at his animal companion and nodded to it.

"Go ahead Utan, knock yourself out."

The female orangutan became excited as she rushed up to the back of the ship, and a few moments later a red humanoid mech came out of the top of Rabat's ship and went trigger happy, taking down the remaining Harvesters with bullets, missiles and lasers causing fireworks. Rabat ran his hand through his hair and groaned in frustration as he watched the ammunitions decrease rapidly and after two minutes, the Harvesters were scrap metal but the mech was out of ammo.

…

With the battle over the pilots returned to Nirvana and docked in the hangar. Immediately after docking Seth wasted no time getting out of the Alpinia before making a mad dash to the bridge. The presence of Rabat in the area angered him to no end and knowing the bastard's habits he needed to warn Magno and the crew. However just as he's about arrive at the bridge he hears the last part of the conversation between the bastard and the captain, which angered him even more.

"I guess we have no choice...you may come aboard."

_"All righty then. I'll be right there!" _Rabat said, _"And while I'm there maybe I'll do business on your ship." _And with that the transmission ended.

"Are you sure that's wise Captain?" BC asked, "We know nothing about this man, he could turn out to be a threat."

"But I do and I know he is a threat." Seth stated as he walked into the bridge.

"Really? And you know this because?" BC asked in interest.

"Because that same piece of dog shit is a liar, swindler and manipulator, not to mention an agent of the fucking Harvesters!" Seth stated with restrained anger.

"WHAT!?" Magno and BC yelled in shock. The others in the bridge too were shocked at that very same revelation.

"And how do you know this?" Magno asked, "Do you have proof of this?"

Seth slammed a data pad on the captain's table and pointed at it.

"There's your proof right there. A very good friend of mine managed to get enough dirt on this bastard swindler after we found out that he was also the one that helped the Harvesters with their attack on planet Gradius! Too bad the asshole managed to make a break for it after that failed attack."

That also shocked the crew again except Magno and BC who had already heard about the Harvesters' failed attack on Gradius.

"The bad aliens attacked your home?" Dita asked.

"Yes they did, but like I said they failed as Gradius pushed them back even though the enemy caught us off guard." Seth said before taking out his medicine and a water bottle.

"Captain. Rabat's ship has docked in the hangar." Belvedere announced.

"Well then, time to deal with our guest now. So no attacking him unless he does something to provoke such a reaction." Magno instructed Seth, "However we'll talk later after we read the information on your data pad."

Seth nodded and left the bridge to deal with their _guest._

…

As soon as he docked his ship, Rabat disembarked and before he knew it, he was greeted by the Nirvana's security team, all of which were very attractive females and not happy to see him.

"Well now, this ship certainly has a lot of lovely young ladies on it." he quipped as he moved down towards the women, unfazed by the weapons trained at him. The man moved through the crowd of women attempting to give them gifts to them but for some reason they did not accept any of them and the women were clearly on edge around him. He found that very confusing but shrugged it off as the typical Mejerian hate. He then noticed Jura standing off in the corner by herself and he went to meet her.

"Oh you're that lovely lady with the saber. Here's one for you." he said.

"I don't want one." Jura refused immediately.

"I insist. They'll look great on you." Rabat insisted. Suddenly he felt a gun at the back of his head.

"For such a _gentleman _you just can't take no for an answer." said a familiar voice.

"Seth Reager…" Rabat growled.

"Yes it's me. How's life been treating you, dog shit?"

"How would you like to know?"

"I don't. I'd rather just put a bullet in your head and have your carcass tossed out the airlock."

"That's enough." A female voice called out. Both men then turned to see Meia who had her ring aimed right at Rabat. Considering what had happened earlier, the aqua-haired girl made it very clear that she was not in the mood.

"You're coming with me to see the Captain and don't even think about trying anything funny." She warned.

"Ah, yes ma'am." Rabat replied before getting kicked in the back.

"Save the flattery for someone who gives a shit!" Seth said dryly.

Meanwhile as Seth and Rabat escorted Rabat to the bridge, Parfet got into a chasing run with Utan to get Pyoro back, who the female orangutan was not keen on handing back to the head engineer, despite her pleas and Jura's insistence that they stopped running around her.

…

"Ah so you're here." Magno said as Rabat stood in front of her.

"Yes, I am though I didn't have much of a choice now did I?" Rabat said while looking at Seth who was giving him a blank look and an angry Meia. "Besides aren't most of your crew women?"

"Yes." Magno answered, "The men you've seen here are from Tarak. They are all prisoners of war and temporary members of my crew. We women are from Mejere however."

"So that's the deal eh?" Rabat said, then he activated a nearby switch and he saw Bart in the Navigation Well. "Don't catch a cold in there." All he got was a growl after.

"And what about the Gradian? Is he also a prisoner of war?" Rabat asked nodding his head towards Seth.

"I'm here of my own volition, that's all you need to know." Seth said coldly.

"Which is true as he's been very helpful to us." Magno added.

"Not a surprise since he's from Gradius." Rabat said before grinning, "But I'm more surprised that he's even around you considering that your planets are not on good terms with his own. Not to mention he's a wanted man too."

Seth tilted his head to the side and drew out his gun, aiming it at Rabat's head. Meia, BC and the bridge operators were surprised at what Rabat said and Seth's reaction.

"Permission to kill him, captain?" The Gradian asked with his finger on the trigger.

"Stand down Seth." Magno ordered and then turned to Rabat, "Explain what you mean about that?"

"Did the Gradian ever tell you about him being a wanted man by Gradius with a bounty on his head, not to mention that your own people also want him dead for his actions at Operation Reprisal?" Rabat asked as he looked around, "The man shot down more than half of Mejere's Dread Squadrons by himself, especially the Red Vixens, all because of a personal vendetta. Quite the monster you have here, huh?"

"Your point?" Seth asked dryly, surprising everyone including Rabat whom expected the Gradian to snap.

"That's enough! We're not here for talking about people's personal histories." Magno shouted to quickly defuse the situation, "Now…what exactly do you want from us?"

"Not much really, I just want to make some repairs to my ship…and maybe do a little business here while I'm here since I'm a trader." Rabat answered. Seth just scoffed which the trader ignored.

Magno looked at him hard and nodded, "You may do so, but cause any trouble on this ship and I will have you removed from here, understood?"

"Yes Ma'am. Now that that's settled where would be a good place for me to start my repairs and set up my shop too?" Rabat asked.

"I'll have BC show you." The captain answered.

BC walked over to Rabat and told him to follow her, leaving the bridge. After they left Magno looked at Seth.

"Looks like you are still hiding some things from us?" she asked.

"I didn't see any reason to tell you about that at the time. Besides I would have told you all eventually but that bastard's more than likely forced my hand." Seth replied, "Still that's for another time as I need to keep an eye on that same bastard. Have you read the intel I gave you?"

"BC and I are still reading it." Magno replied.

"Do that and you'll understand why I'd rather kill that bastard than let him be anywhere near this ship."

…

Rabat was upset. Why? He'd set up shop and hadn't been able to make a damned profit as the women on the ship simply refused to buy any of his goods, well except the engineer named Parfet, but still he was at a loss. And he had a good guess why…Seth Reager! That damned Gradian just had to be up in his business once more. He and the Gradian had crossed paths more than once, with the first time being at Gradius when he met a younger Seth in his delinquent days. He had just done whatever sabotage he needed to do of the planet's defenses and needed a scapegoat and his inside man had suggested he'd simply frame the young Gradian who wasn't well liked then. Which he simply did by bribing certain individuals and planting false evidences. Soon after he heard of the failed attack on Gradius and wasted no time getting out of their space. He'd also heard about Seth's subsequent prison sentence from his inside man too and felt that he was safe.

Then years later he met the Gradian again on another planet called Akzerith and he was much older and very pissed off. The trader/spy/saboteur was shocked to hear that Seth had killed his inside man and learned about his actions in Gradius' attack and framing him. Rabat barely escaped with his life as Seth had warned the planet's government about the traitorous bastard which gave them time to fix and improve their defenses against the Harvesters therefore saving the planet from annihilation. Seth had nearly killed Rabat during that same battle after shooting his ship full of holes but thanks to distraction by his clients' forces he barely managed to escape.

And now once more Seth was getting in his way as his attempts to learn any of the Nirvana's secrets was impossible due to the crew tightening up their security and the Security Teams barring him from going into any secure areas. Even the Gradian himself was keeping an eye on him! It was getting frustrating for him.

…

Seth had followed Rabat around the ship trying to make sure he didn't try anything funny. He knew that the Harvester's agent was looking for something for his masters. Magno had warned the crew about Rabat and ordered the Nirvana's Security Crew to tighten the ship's security and make sure Rabat didn't go to anywhere he wasn't welcome in.

Seth wanted nothing more than to just kill the man in front of him right now and be done with it but he couldn't as he'd been ordered by the captain not to. He followed him back to the hangar where the trader's ship was docked and saw Rabat walk up to BC whom had been inspecting the man's ship. Seth hid by the doorway to listen to the conversation.

"Looking for something?" Rabat asked.

"Your ship shows no signs of battle damage anywhere." BC said as she faced him.

"I was able to finish the repairs faster than expected" Rabat told her as he walked closer.

BC looked at him in suspicion, "What are your real intentions?"

"Just finishing up some trading business, that's all, which hasn't been as good as I expected." Rabat said coolly as he grabbed her chin, "In the meantime, how about we go somewhere a little more private so we can get to know each other better?"

'_Sheesh! Has he no fucking shame? Oh wait a second…he doesn't!' _Seth thought.

BC only gave him a smirk as a response before Rabat noticed something was off.

"Wait a minute that smell..." he muttered, taking his hand off BC's chin, "Maybe we'll take a rain check on that." Rabat starts backing up nervously and decides to head somewhere else.

'_Looks like I'm not the only one who noticed something off about her.' _Seth thought as he too had been suspicious about BC ever since he met the crew.

"You know it's rude to eavesdrop on people."

Seth sighed as he walked into the hangar while scratching the back of his head.

"You know I'm just doing my job of keeping an eye on that dog shit. I'm also glad to see that you all are taking my warning seriously."

"Well with what the captain and I have read so far I'm convinced that he's not only a threat to our crew but also humanity as a whole."

"Glad to hear that."

"You seem to hate Rabat a lot."

"Not just hate…I despise the man."

"Yes it was mentioned in your data pad. What I'm more surprised is about how he got successful in doing that to you."

"Corruption and manipulation. Now if you excuse me I have to continue to keep an eye on our _guest_."

…

Arriving at the Hangar Bay on the men's side of the ship, Rabat spotted the vanguard docked there and a container that had the words "Alpinia" on it and noticed that it was code locked. He figured that it was likely the Gradius fighter he'd seen earlier and since trying to unlock it could take time he decided to settle for the vanguard instead to figure out the system that enables the transformation.

However, as he made his way closer to the mech, someone else came on the scene to interrupt him.

…

Magno had just finished reading the Seth's data pad and she was not happy about what she'd read. Rabat is an agent for the Harvesters and he secretly gave information about those planets to them where they later go and raze and harvest for certain organs from the unfortunate people. Rabat was nothing but a traitor to the whole human race! Not only that, Gradius put a bounty on his head too for a lot of credits and he also more or else made Seth's life a living hell by setting him up to take the fall for what he did to Gradius and scarred him for life just like Seth's former family and her fellow Mejerians had already done to him.

Now she had to give Rabat the boot before Seth decided to kill him first.

…

Seth was cursing himself right now as he'd somehow last sight of Rabat due to talking with BC. Not to mention that his blood pressure had been getting higher and higher due to so many years of pent up rage wanting to be let out and even with his medicine it wasn't helping his condition. He was now in the med bay with Duero to deal with his condition. Then suddenly Paiway rushed into the med bay to tell them that Hibiki was fighting Rabat in the hangar and she had to avoid being ran over by an enraged Seth who stormed his way towards the hangar. When he arrived he spotted the traitor beating the crap out of Hibiki before the teen managed to bite the man in the ankle and piss him off.

Dita tried to get in the way but Rabat kicked her out of the way and proceeded to step on Hibiki's head in an attempt to crush it. Suddenly Rabat found himself gasping for air as he stumbled backwards due to someone kicking him in the gut and making him bend over in pain. Then he got kicked in the side of the head and was knocked on his ass.

Rabat groaned as he got to his feet, surprised at who hit him that hard until he looked to his front and saw Seth Reager standing protectively between him and Hibiki.

"You okay Hibiki?" Seth asked.

"Barely." Hibiki painfully replied.

"Dita?"

"I'm okay too." The redhead replied.

"Glad to hear it."

Seth then fully focused on Rabat.

"You've overstayed your welcome motherfucker. You're leaving this ship right now."

"Heh! Really? And what makes you think you could do any better than the kid?" Rabat smugly asked. The trader/spy thought that he could take him in a fist fight as he knew that in space combat he'd get destroyed by the Gradian. "You know what? I'm sick of your ugly mug Seth Reager. You just don't know how to stay down."

"Wow…Is the dog shit actually growing a back bone? Well someone give the guy a prize." Seth mocked while clapping to Rabat's annoyance, just as several more members of the Nirvana came on the scene to witness just what was going on before he turned serious.

"I never said that you'd be leaving in one piece did I?" Seth corrected in a sadistic tone, "You'll be leaving in a bag, preferably in pieces."

"Let's see if you can back up your words better than the kid." Rabat said, but before he could do anything Seth rushed at him at a speed no one expected and grabbed Rabat's arm that was reaching for a flash grenade and he elbowed it to break that arm causing Rabat to scream in pain before Seth grabbed his neck and stopped his screaming.

"I've waited seven years for this. So don't worry…I'm only getting started."

Seth then kicked Rabat sending him flying into a bunch of containers with a loud smash and causing a mess.

"I have seven years of pent up rage built up in me and now I get to unleash it on you."

He walked towards Rabat who somehow forced himself to his feet with his good arm. He then drew out a pistol and aimed it at Seth but the Gradian caught his hand and twisted his arm and disarmed him of the gun, quickly ejected the clip from the gun and threw the gun away and then grabbed Rabat by his neck again.

"You seem to know a lot about Operation Reprisal. You're not part of Gradius High Command and I sure as hell know that you weren't involved in that operation either. So tell me, how do you know the grizzly details?"

"Sorry…Could you say that again? I think I didn't quite catch that."

Seth smashed Rabat's head twice on a nearby container and then threw him unto the floor and then kicked him in the face.

"Get up dog shit! I'm not done with you yet!"

Rabat did stand up but with difficulty. He then swung at Seth with a haymaker but the Gradian countered with an overhand punch stunning him, followed by an uppercut, a punch to the throat and an over hook to the back of the ear to drop Rabat to the floor. Then he picked up Rabat by the neck and looked him in the eyes.

"How many other lives have you ruined, huh? How many worlds have you sold out? Just to line up your pockets and save your own worthless ass?" Seth asked while Rabat was struggling to breath. "Don't answer that…TOO FUCKING MANY!"

Seth pushed Rabat to the wall then kicked him in the groin, then grabbed his head and smashed him into the wall and then another nearby box. Then Seth picked Rabat up by the neck again. Then he punched him in the groin, followed by an uppercut to the jaw, a knee to the gut and a haymaker to the side of the face that knocked Rabat onto his back.

The other pirates watched in awe and fear as Seth ruthlessly beat down Rabat and made it look easy.

"It's like he's enjoying this." Jura said.

"More like he's torturing the man." Meia stated as she saw the sadistic smile on Seth's face.

To Magno and BC they were seeing Seth taking out his anger on the man that made most of his life hell.

Rabat spat out a gout of blood along with some teeth as he tried to get up but his body was in pain as he felt like his liver, stomach and balls had been smashed to jelly. One arm was broken by the elbow and his face was sore with one eye swollen shut and he felt some teeth were missing.

"You cost me three years of my life! Framing me for a crime you committed…hoping I'd die… and you'll live so that you could continue with your atrocities." Seth yelled at the downed man, his blood pressure rising, adrenaline rushing through him and his blood burning. "Then you come here trying to lie, cheat, swindle and then dare to mess with this crew? Well no more…it ends today…"

Rabat then chuckled painfully, "Really…that's rich! W-What of the Verons? What do you think they'd-" He was immediately cut off by Seth's hands around his throat, picking him up to eye level with Seth.

"Don't you DARE mention those pieces of shit you bastard! They're nothing but failures and sorry excuses for people!" Seth said and then threw Rabat back on the ground. He then sat on Rabat's chest and began to land punch after punch on the man's face as he unleashed all the rage he had on him. This went on for a while as Rabat's face became less recognizable with each punch. Just as he was about to land another punch someone grabbed his hand. Seth turned his head to see Meia holding his hand.

"That's enough, Seth!" Meia said.

"Stay out of my way, Meia! This bastard needs to die!" Seth tried to use his other arm but a firmer grip caught it and he growled as he looked up to see Gascogne holding his other arm.

"You've sent your message to him Seth and you need to calm down." Gascogne said.

"I'll calm down when he's dead!" Seth argued as he got off the unconscious Rabat and stood up.

"ENOUGH!" Magno yelled, stopping Seth and startling the other crew members. She looked at Seth, then Rabat and then Seth once more.

"You've done enough Seth Reager. No need to dirty your hands with that scum's blood."

Seth then looked at Magno incredulously.

"I've already dirtied my hands with blood of other scum like him. What's wrong with adding his own blood to the mix?" he coldly stated.

"Maybe you've done that but don't let your rage blind you this time. Besides you're going to make your health worse if you don't calm yourself down."

Seth felt himself getting light headed and inhaled and exhaled to calm himself while freeing his arms from Meia and Gascogne's grasps. With a lot of reluctance he reined in his rage and looked at where Hibiki and Dita were and saw the redhead supporting the vanguard pilot.

It was then that Utan appeared, while chasing Pyoro who managed to make his way free of the female orangutan, she then spotted Rabat just beginning to regain consciousness in his bloody and battered state and rushed to his aid, helping him to his feet. The trader/spy/con-man looked at the Gradian who looked right back at him, those soulless eyes of his made Rabat terrified of this man. That and the death glares the other crew members gave him, some of them pointing their weapons at him made him know that he'd better get out of here.

"You're lucky I convinced Seth here to not kill you right where you stand." Magno said to Rabat, "However that could change if you don't leave right now, so leave while you can."

Utan already scared of the Gradian wasted no time getting Rabat and herself into their ship and soon after they took off from the Nirvana.

However after they'd left Magno gave the order to Bart to give chase after the trader, as they still wanted to rob him of his possessions like good old fashioned pirates. Unfortunately before they could get close to him the Nirvana's engines shut down for no reason and Rabat got away. Magno inquired what happened and Parfet confessed that she had bought an upgrade for the Nirvana's engine systems from Rabat. That got the engineer a ruthless verbal lashing from a once more pissed off Seth for letting her curiosity endanger the crew.

…

After getting treated for his injuries, Hibiki sat alone in front of the stream in the garden, staring at his reflection in the water and brooding about his weakness.

"It doesn't matter what he said." Meia said as she approached the edge of the observation platform, leaning her back against the rail. "Everything he said was nonsense, he was nothing more than a con artist."

"And a good for nothing traitor." Seth added as he walked in wearing his casual wear instead of his flight suit.

"I know…but…" Hibiki said before he clenched his fists in anger, "…he was still right about one thing, I don't have any words to call my own, only what I've heard from others...It's also funny that I'd get saved by you whose planet hates both of ours." The young then pilot looked up at the stars. "When I do get up on my own stage, I wonder what kind of lines would come out of me. Heh, I'm looking forward to that day, but at the same time I'm a little bit scared. I'm kinda worried that my play would be a comedy."

"It doesn't matter how silly the lines are." Meia spoke, "If they come from the heart and spirit without any lies nobody would laugh at you. Or at the very least I wouldn't. Both you and Seth even stated it, man or woman we're both in this together and have to co-operate to survive through this and we shouldn't be afraid to ask for help if we encounter something we can't handle…something we both still have a ways to go in."

"Maybe so…but at least you're both making progress in that area." Seth said.

Meia smiled at that before she left the garden, leaving the men to themselves.

"Seth, am I really a man? Or do I just think I am?" Hibiki asked as he looked back at the stars.

"You're already one." Seth answered, "Your standing up to Rabat already proved that even if you got your ass handed to you. That dog shit may be a swindler but that it doesn't mean he's defenseless."

"Thanks, Seth." Hibiki replied while barely making a smile before he stopped, "Maybe so but I'm not like you. You're very good as a pilot, you do whatever you want and you're actually strong…"

"Enough with comparing yourself to me. You are you and I am me. Do what makes you who you are and don't try to act like someone else. You're a man now Hibiki so act like it." Seth said, "Now if you'd excuse me I have to go back to the med bay to get another one of that medicine for my hypertension. The events of today have messed with my health once again."

Seth then left Hibiki behind for the med bay while fighting off another headache.

* * *

**Chapter X End.**

**Read &amp; review and don't give me no back talk/flames fool!**


	11. New Can of Worms

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**AN: Well this is a surprise. I never expected this many reviews especially after my last chapter, but after reading the reviews I could see why and I appreciate them. I'm trying to do what I can with limited resources as the Gradius games didn't really have much in terms of story except it's about their endless war with the Bacterians and barely any characters we can relate to. The only recognizable features were the space fighters Vic Viper, Lord British and so on… and Solar Assault was a spinoff of Gradius which I'm using in this crossover. I'll keep trying to write something original and entertaining for those that enjoy this.**

**Anyways with that said back to the story**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius.**

**Chapter 11: New Can of Worms**

* * *

Seth was in the firing range alone, shooting down multiple targets as he was in a foul mood due to recent events.

A week ago, the crew of the Nirvana came across a derelict Mission Station, but they weren't the only ones. A mysterious man was also on the station, one that Seth Reager knew very well, and after the Harvesters attacked the man fled along with Pyoro and used the NAVI bot as a bargaining chip to come aboard the Nirvana.

Before the man even landed Magno and BC knew that the man known as Rabat couldn't be trusted and he was definitely up to something. This was further proven by Seth who told them about who the man really was and his prior encounters with the swindler, including giving them evidence about the swindler's activities and his clients who were the Harvesters. When Rabat arrived he had tried to cause trouble for Seth by revealing the Gradian's wanted status on Gradius and the women's planet Mejere. Also Rabat did not disappoint as he made his true motives known.

First Rabat tried to sell his defective goods to the crew but thanks to Seth's warnings and Magno's orders they refused to buy anything. He then tried to go towards restricted areas of the ship but the tightened security and Seth himself made sure he didn't get anywhere he wasn't welcome and away from the Alpinia.

Seth then encountered the bastard beating Hibiki badly and nearly killing the teen before he put a stop to it, saving the teen from any more punishment. Then Seth proceeded to open a can of whoop ass on Rabat with cold and ruthless precision. The crew also got to see the Gradian's hand to hand combat skill and to their surprise it was far superior and much more brutal than they expected. In mere minutes Seth had nearly killed Rabat with his bare hands if not for Magno, Meia and Gascogne stopping him.

So with a lot of reluctance Seth had to let the swindler go and let his chance to get some much needed payback slip by, but not without silently vowing to make sure he ended the bastard's life next time.

As for the Nirvana crew they had gotten a firsthand look at Seth's unarmed combat skills as they'd already seen his skills as a pilot and some had known about his people's reputation as pilots, but after seeing this brutal display of violence many had begun forming new opinions of him. Some were really impressed at his strength and ability, some were terrified of him and made it a point to not attract his wrath and the rest like Barnette saw him as a bigger threat than their Tarakan crew members and wanted him to be locked up for the rest of the trip. Seth however did not care about their opinions.

However he was pissed at Magno and those that interfered. Thanks to them, Seth's chance to get payback on the swindler for his crimes, prevent more worlds from being harvested and also getting the bounty on his head blew past him_. _That swindler had ruined lives and sold his own race just to save his own skin and line his pockets and Magno made him let the bastard go! No need to bloody his hands!? His hands were already bloody way before he even met the crew! Well if more worlds end up being harvested he's blaming her for it. Also he has a feeling that her decision was going to bite them in the ass.

Then there was the issue of Rabat's opening his big mouth about the bounties on Seth's head and having details about Operation Reprisal. How he knew about that opened up a new can of worms as there was no way that Rabat should have known about such classified information. Seth had managed to send a message to Miranda about this and also to inform Gradius about a security leak.

The fools from Gradius only put a bounty on him because of his desertion since he was still part of Gradius military, his taking of the Alpinia with him and they most likely figured out that he was the one who killed Rabat's inside man and his abominable cousin Rugal. Mejere just wanted revenge on him for their humiliation and his destruction of the Red Vixens Squadron during Operation Reprisal. It was just him doing his job with a bit of a personal vendetta to go with it.

Still the crew would soon be questioning him about his involvement in Operation Reprisal and what he did to become a wanted man. He'll answer them in time…when he feels like talking about it.

After taking down the last target, Seth removed the earmuffs and ballistic googles and looked at the scoreboard showing that he missed one target making him sigh in annoyance. He then holstered his Glock 17 and left the firing range. Outside he bumped into Hibiki.

"Ah! There you are Seth!" Hibiki said when he saw the Gradian.

"Yes?" Seth coldly asked, clearly not in the mood.

"Seth. Uh I…" Hibiki hesitated due to the cold look he was receiving.

"What do you want brat?! Make it fast." Seth told him, startling the younger man.

"Uh…I want you to teach me how to fight. Please." Hibiki said while slapping his hands together and bowing his head.

Seth just walked past the younger man. "Another time. I'm not in the best of moods today."

"So is that a yes?" Hibiki asked with hope.

"It's a maybe." Seth responded and continued walking. When he got to the elevator, the doors opened to reveal Meia.

"Oh good you're here!" Meia said as she spotted Seth. The Gradian stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind him as he faced the Dread Team Leader.

"What do you want!?" he snapped coldly startling her. Seth noticed that and calmed himself down. "Sorry..."

"The captain wants to see you." Meia told him.

"I see…Sorry for snapping at you. Like Hibiki earlier you caught me in a bad mood."

"Oh. Does it have something to do with last week?"

"Yes it does…and let's leave it at that."

…

Arriving at the conference room alongside Meia, Seth just stood across from Magno and BC while leaning against the wall and glared at the captain. Magno sighed as she knew why Seth was acting like this.

"Thank you for coming Seth. There's something I'd like to discuss with you." Magno started.

"Yes I already know that." Seth replied rudely.

"Seth! You're being disrespectful!" Meia reprimanded.

"Yeah. And?"

"That's enough. I know why you're angry Seth and it has to do with that business with Rabat."

"Since you already know that I'll get straight to the point and ask why. Why did you get in the way?"

"There was no need for further action against Rabat, he was already beaten and dirtying your hands with his blood wouldn't have achieved anything."

"Actually there was need for further action. That was my chance for payback for what Rabat did to me and you three got in the way! If you hadn't, I would have erased that slimy bastard for good, thereby saving who knows how many planets from him and his masters, The Harvesters, the very monsters we are fighting."

"So it's all for petty revenge?" BC asked, which resulted in Seth punching the wall behind him in anger and scaring her and Meia.

"Petty revenge?! Are you fucking serious?!" Seth shouted, "That bastard's the reason why I lost three years of my life! All for his murderous masters! I waited seven years…SEVEN FUCKING YEARS…just to get my hands on that bastard and erase him permanently. I finally had him right where I wanted but you JUST HAD to get in my way! So don't you dare call it petty revenge!"

"Calm down Seth. We stopped you from killing Rabat because if you did, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life." Magno said, "I know that you've killed a lot of people Seth…even when you were imprisoned."

"What? Seth was imprisoned!?" Meia asked in disbelief.

"Falsely imprisoned." Seth corrected, "And as for how you know about me killing people captain, I'd like to know since I never told you that."

"Some weeks ago, a video was played all over the ship and it showed a bit of your past. Like when you were imprisoned at age 13, nearly killed by inmates, put on death row as suggested by your family and your killing of five other inmates." Magno explained.

"So you basically got a front row seat to my nightmare?"

"We're not lying about that Seth. When we saw it most of the crew were shocked by what they saw and I, BC, Gascogne and Duero only knew it was from your point of view after you explained your past to us."

"So the one that video was about was Seth?" Meia asked.

"Yes it was Meia. And that was the reason why I didn't want Seth to have any more blood on his hands." Magno added.

"A little too late for that, captain. I already have the blood of many on my hands: Rabat's inside men/women on many planets, The Red Vixens Squadron, the ones responsible for my parents' deaths, my abominable cousin whom was a menace, and many more." Seth said, "And you know what…I have no regrets about those kills."

"So what Rabat said about you being wanted by Mejere and Gradius wasn't a lie?" BC asked.

"With what I've said already it should be clear to you already whether it's true or not." Seth said.

"So why are you wanted by your own planet?" BC asked.

"Most likely because of desertion, "theft" of the Alpinia and the killing of two pieces of trash that were nothing but traitors since they were Rabat's inside men." Seth stated, "And as for Mejere I'd take it that you remember 'that day' that would forever live on in infamy on your planet?"

BC sighed. "A day I'd never forget. I honestly thought that was the end of Mejere, one we brought on ourselves."

"So Operation Reprisal was Gradius' retaliation for the deaths of their diplomats?" Magno asked.

Seth nodded, "Yes it was. Gradius wasn't going to take that crap your people pulled lying down so we decided to show you who you pissed off and I happily volunteered because of my personal vendetta with the Red Vixens Squadron. Those fools thought it was a good idea to send a video of them killing my parents to me and then saying that I was next. Well I made sure to shoot down every single one of them and send them to hell. My actions alone not only made your planet hate and fear Gradius, it also made my fellow Gradians fear me."

"Seth, you do realize that some of my crew had families and friends that were part of the Red Vixens?" Magno asked.

"I had an idea, but in all honesty I don't give a damn about what those people feel about me and if any of them try to get revenge by trying to kill me then be ready to have some injured crew members, as I won't roll over and die for anyone." Seth coldly stated, startling the women.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't kill any of my crew members even if they attack you first." Magno warned.

"I'll obviously use non-lethal force but only as self-defense."

"That's…acceptable. Just don't cripple my crew too much."

"No promises."

Magno sighed at that while Seth had a small grin on his face. Then they both turned serious.

"There's something else I want to bring up that also has to do with Rabat…." Magno began.

"About how he knows about Operation Reprisal?" Seth replied.

"Yes…wasn't it suspicious that he knew about that?"

"That had been going through my mind ever since he mentioned that. Such details of that mission couldn't be known by a common civilian…unless he had an insider."

"Didn't you kill his last insider on Gradius?" Meia asked.

"I did…and that insider was my cousin Rugal…"

"Your own cousin was Rabat's inside man?"

"Of course he was. He was a pathetic waste of space too, begged for mercy when he was about to die. I gave him none considering how much of a bastard he was." Seth said.

"Even if you did take him out, shouldn't you at least tell Gradius about there being a security leak?" BC asked.

"I did before I left Gradius and I also informed my friend about this and she agreed to look into this." Seth said.

"She? Your friend is a woman?" Meia asked.

"More like the big sister I wished I had." Seth said with a smile, "Miranda Locke was also a Gradius pilot, in fact she was the test pilot for the Alpinia and like me she suffered at the hands of Gradius' bull shit justice system and also wanted for desertion. She's been helping me out with her vast shadow network and it was thanks to her that I was vindicated of the false charges that were dumped on me."

Magno smiled. At least there was something good in Seth's life.

"So anything else captain?" Seth asked.

"Yes…are you going to tell the crew the truth about your wanted status or should I?" Magno said.

"I'd rather tell them myself." Seth answered. "Now if you excuse me I have things that need to be done."

…

Seth was now sitting inside the Alpinia and reading the reply he got from Miranda. She had informed Gradius about the security leak and fortunately they got it and were actually grateful for the information and were now investigating the leak. Also there was bad news as Miranda mentioned that the task force sent to bring Seth in were now on their way to the sector he was in, all thanks to an 'anonymous' tip from someone. Miranda guessed it was Rabat himself after Seth had told her about his confrontation with the bastard. Seth wasn't surprised by that but he was angry at the fact that those fools on the task force would let a bigger menace like Rabat give them the slip because of an anonymous tip. Fucking morons. Just as Seth was about to write his reply…

"Wow so that's Seth's ship…it looks like our dreads yet it's different from them!" Parfet said as she looked at the Gradius fighter.

Paiway rushed up to the Alpinia and snapped some pictures of the ship with her camera. "So this is one of the legendary fighters from planet Gradius that the captain mentioned? It looks amazing."

"It's much bigger than our dreads and it does look pretty." Dita added as she followed her energetic friend. "Don't touch it Paiway. Mr. Seth doesn't want anyone touching his ship."

"Hey! I'm just taking pictures of it." Paiway defended.

A few other dread pilots walked into the hangar to probably also get a closer look at the legendary machine that was feared on their planet.

"So this is the Gradian's ship…it does look like a dread."

"I heard that the Gradius fighters were made for any kind of situation, making them very well rounded."

"Have you seen those orbs that come out of it? I adds to its firepower making them able to take on multiple enemies."

"I've seen them in action. No wonder our military fears and hates Gradius."

"Isn't this ship similar to the one the Mejerian Butcher flew in?"

That got Seth's attention and made him to raise an eyebrow. That's the name the Mejerians gave him? Seriously!?"

"SETH REAGER!"

Seth sighed in irritation at the sound of the person shouting his name. He looked to his left to see an angry Barnette walking into the hangar and looking around for him.

"Look what the cat dragged in…" he muttered.

"Um Barnette, is something wrong?" Dita asked. The brunette walked past her, not even acknowledging the redhead.

"Where is he?" She asked growling, "Where is that stupid Gradian?!"

The dread pilots and Seth watched Barnette storm up to the Alpinia with hatred in her eyes.

"Are you in there? Come out you bastard!"

The cockpit opened and there was Seth glaring murderously at Barnette.

"What do you want bitch?"

Barnette growled at him for the insult.

"There you are! I want to talk to you!"

"I'm not in the mood for your bullshit Barnette, so unless you have something reasonable to say fuck off." Seth said coldly as he got out of the cockpit, closed it and put in the security code.

"So it's true…you're the Mejerian Butcher!" Barnette began as she moved her hand towards her holstered pistol, "The most despised man on Mejere. The one responsible for killing the members of the Red Vixens Squadron and more than half of our planet's dread teams."

Gasps were heard from everyone in the hangar while Seth raised an eyebrow and put a hand in his jeans pocket. "And how did you figure that out?"

"So you won't deny it?"

"Nope. Now answer my question, how did you figure it out?"

"First you didn't act like the other men on the ship in fact you have no problem being around us women, second is the fact you're from Gradius, a planet that I remember makes a sore topic on Mejere, third is your ship and finally your lack of reaction when Rabat mentioned your wanted status on your planet and ours."

"You know that all of that's circumstantial at best right? I could be from any other planet that doesn't have much love for Mejere apart from Tarak or Gradius and I could also come from a planet where men AND women get along. The Alpinia isn't the only ship from Gradius, there are more of them. Finally my lack of reaction could be because Rabat could be lying to you all and he has a track record of lying through his teeth."

"Oh really? According to many others back at home and those who were there when Gradius attacked Mejere, the Mejerian Butcher flew a black space fighter just like the one you pilot. Not only that there were rumors going around about some of our pilots encountering that same fighter only to end up being either shot down or disabled."

The other dread pilots began muttering among themselves after they heard what Barnette deduced about Seth while the man in question blankly looked at Barnette but inwardly he was amused by how she figured out who he was. More people entered the hangar such as Meia, Jura, Hibiki, Bart and so on.

"Did I miss anything or am I totally correct?" Barnette asked smugly.

Seth just mock clapped which annoyed her as she could tell it wasn't sincere. "Congrats, you uncovered some baggage of mine…something I was going to tell everyone about in a few minutes but you beat me to the punch." He said.

"That means you're a criminal! A danger to our crew! And since you're a man you're our enemy!" Barnette yelled, "You probably think you're all that because you shot down the Red Vixens by yourself! You probably enjoyed killing all of them, not caring if they had families and friends! You probably don't even know what it's like to lose someone! You probably enjoy killing! You've never suffered in your life!"

Barnette froze up as she suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of a Glock 17 pistol held by a very pissed off Gradian.

"Once more you sprout bullshit from that bigoted mouth of yours. Do you even know the circumstances that led to Gradius attacking Mejere? Don't answer because I know you don't. Your government tried to spin it around to make yourselves seem like the victims when your people were the ones who brought that on yourselves. I've never suffered in my life? Stupid bitch I was framed for the actions of that bastard Rabat! I was locked up in jail at the age of 13. 13! I was beaten, stabbed, cut, strangled in prison. When I turned 15 I was put on death row and then given the death penalty! I also killed five grown men at that age just to see the next day, something you've never had to do. If not for my parents and a good friend of mine I would have died later. I don't know what it's like to lose someone? Those bitches from the Red Vixens your planet was so proud of happily killed two diplomats from Gradius, both of whom were MY PARENTS!" Seth growled causing getting gasps from the others. "Yes, that's right! They killed my parents, recorded their gory deed and sent a video of it to me telling me I was next! Do you know how that messes up a child?! Don't think so since your government could condone such crap!"

"I'll also admit that I was part of Gradius' retaliation squad and that I was in it for revenge! I never cared about my kill count as I shot down every. Single. One. Of those Red Vixens because I was so focused on getting revenge. I was just a soldier doing my job even when I had a personal vendetta and even after it was all said and done I felt nothing and my actions didn't bring back my dead parents."

Seth's eye twitched as he removed his gun from Barnette's head. "You want to treat me like your enemy, go ahead…I don't care, just don't expect me to roll over for you. You want me to leave the ship, I'll do that if it'll help you feel safer. I understand all that...but don't forget we're comrades now."

With that said Seth walked past everyone and out of the hangar leaving those inside in total silence.

…

"What do you know?" Magno smiled.

"Captain…" BC said, "Now that Seth's confirmed what was said by Rabat and said more about himself…is his life going to take a turn for the better or worse?"

"That is up to him and the others to decide." Magno sighed. "Though I have a feeling that things are about to get even more complicated either way."

* * *

**Chapter XI End.**


	12. Return and Beliefs

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius.**

**Chapter 12: Return and Beliefs**

* * *

In the conference room, BC was standing at the end of the table giving a report to Magno about a planet they had found. The projector in the center of the table showed a hologram of the planet, it was mostly covered in water. Unfortunately the elderly captain wasn't paying attention.

"Approximately 99% of the planet's surface is covered in water. Scans also show that the atmosphere is comprised of nitrogen and oxygen so it fulfills the requirements for life. Deeper scans have also revealed the remains of a colonization ship on the ocean floor as well as a small island nearby whose inhabitants appear to be human." BC reported.

"Huh? Oh! Well then anything else?" Magno asked after being brought out of her thoughts.

BC raised an eyebrow at her superior. "Is something wrong captain? You're not the type to be easily distracted."

"I know…It's about the situation with the crew and our lone Gradian." Magno sighed.

BC knew what she was talking about. Ever since Seth confirmed the rumors of his wanted status on Gradius and Mejere, there was a division in the Nirvana crew.

There were those like Barnette and many women who had friends and families that were part of the Red Vixens, who still considered Seth a threat to the crew and felt that he should be restrained for the rest of the trip not only because he was male but because of his nickname given by Mejere's military, "The Mejerian Butcher", due to his shooting down of more than half of their Dread forces including their elite Red Vixens Squadron singlehandedly. And they made things clear with many of them attacking him only to end up on a one way trip on the pain express to Duero. Free of charge.

And there were the rest of the crew who were didn't see Seth as a threat because of the video they watched which showed them how macabre their own people were to people from other planets and his past actions with the crew which have only been beneficial as the Gradian had helped them since he joined the crew even when he had no reason to.

Then Seth showed them the video from his past that opened the eyes of the crew members, at least on the female side, the execution of his parents by the Red Vixen pilots themselves, which led to Operation Reprisal. The graphic video quickly shook the beliefs of many of the crew members and made a lot of them reconsider what they thought about their own people. Only a few of them refused to change their minds and Barnette was one of them…Big surprise there. Seth didn't care either way. He'd made his point and has proven his loyalty to everyone. The rest is up to them. It was only thanks to Magno putting her foot down and laying down the law that things were now stable. If only temporary…

"Even so but we can't think too much on it right now." BC said.

"I know so let's deal with the present. Like saying hello to our long lost relatives." Magno said.

**...**

In the bridge, the bridge bunnies looked on at the planet while complimenting on the planet's surface. Magno, BC and Seth along with Dita and Meia were also present. The Gradian was in his Kevlar weave flight suit ready for anything. He also found it surprising that he would be back at this very same planet after leaving the same planet some years ago, back when he was still a cadet. Anpathos was the planet's name if his memory served him right.

_"To think that I'd return back here." _Seth thought as he stared at the planet.

Meia noticed Seth's aloof stare at the planet which made her curious.

"Does the planet interest you Seth?" she asked, getting the Gradian's attention.

"It's not a bad looking planet." Seth replied, "Considering the fact that I've been there before."

"You've been to that planet before?" BC asked.

"Yes, I have...that was when I was still a cadet at Gradius Academy." Seth replied, "If I can recall the planet's name is Anpathos. Our captain led me and some other cadets there on a small exploration mission."

"Anpathos..." Magno repeated before turning to the Gradian, "Since you've been there what can you tell us about it?"

"Apart from the obvious detail of there being a lot of water and not much land, the locals there are human and are also the religious type, almost to the point of being fanatics." Seth said.

"Religious fanatics huh?"

"Yeah. They worship the Munya or whatever the hell they are. I don't care too much for it as I already have my own religion."

"I see..."

"Just surprised that I'm returning back to that planet again...I wonder if they'd recognize me..."

Before Seth could say anymore, the Nirvana's radar picked up some threats and the alarm went off. The bridge bunnies quickly checked the data that was picked up.

"Captain, we've spotted an enemy formation at the very edge of our radar coverage!" Ezra reported. "And they are coming from the other side of the planet."

"How many?" BC asked as she looked at the tactical scanners.

"A squad of Cube Fighters and a massive ship...sort of...one that's unlike anything I've never seen before."

It didn't take long for the crew to spot the ship as it came into view. It was hideous…it resembled a malevolent looking organic tulip which was closed at the very moment.

"What the devil is that thing?!" Magno asked as they gazed at the monstrosity in front of them.

"Whatever that abomination is I'd say that it's something the Harvesters want to use to harvest that planet." Seth stated.

"Well, if they're here to do that then I guess we're going to have to send them back empty-handed!" Magno stated. "All hands to combat stations!"

The ship alarms went off prompting the Nirvana crew to get ready for battle. The Dread Teams scrambled to their fighters, Seth raced towards the Alpinia and Hibiki towards his Vanguard. Along the way the two male pilots were stopped by Jura and Barnette, with some lights and cameras that had been set up in advance, along with the blonde doing odd things that confused Hibiki but annoyed Seth who ignored them and continued on towards the hangar.

"We don't have time for this nonsense! We have a battle to deal with!" Seth yelled out to them.

**...**

The Dreads, Vanguard and Alpinia flew out to engage the enemy formation that had detected their presence and split up to engage them.

"Looks like they are the security detail for that thing." Seth said as he sped towards the enemy with the Options active. "They obviously didn't expect us to show up though."

"Well then this won't take long!" Hibiki said arrogantly as he charged off towards an enemy. He swung his sword at one of them but the unexpected happened as the enemy evaded his attack at the last second and outmaneuvered him. The same happened to the Dread pilots and Seth with the enemy dodging their laser and missile shots.

"ARGH! DAMMIT HOLD STILL!" Hibiki yelled as he kept trying to cut down his target but only getting air.

"It looks like they've learned to evade our attacks." Meia noted as she barely dodged a counterattack.

"Not all of them!" Seth yelled. The Alpinia's four options split into sixteen and converged around four Cube Fighters. "Let's see you dodge this fuckers!"

The laser show commenced and the enemy tried to dodge but to no avail and were destroyed. That surprised the crew as they'd never seen the Alpinia pull off that attack before.

"WOW! Nice one Mr. Seth!" Dita cheered.

"Hmph! Show off!" Hibiki muttered, envious that Seth hit some enemies that he couldn't hit.

Meia noticed a Cube Fighter approaching from Seth's flank and noticed that the Gradian may not be able to evade in time due to that attack his ship pulled off. She flew in from the enemy's blind spot and took it by surprise shooting it down before it could get its own attack off on Seth.

"Thanks for the assist Meia." Seth said.

"Be more careful about using that attack of yours. It leaves you wide open after." Meia warned.

"I noticed that. Thanks anyways."

The battle continued and Hibiki finally managed to cut down an enemy and flicked his thumb across his nose in satisfaction. Of course that left him open for another attack by a cube fighter but that was averted when Jura's dread shot it down.

"Well hello there. Are you ready for me?" The blonde suggestively said on the inter-com.

"Hell no!" Hibiki replied. But before he could do anything else another Cube Fighter came at the two of them but it was destroyed by Dita's dread.

"Hey if you're going to combine you should do it with me!" The redhead offered.

Having had enough of this nonsense Hibiki flew away from the two pilots to engage more of the enemy. He managed to cut down a few more but then several cube fighters charged right at him and then latched onto him sending him crashing right to the surface of the planet.

"Jura what are you doing!?" Barnette yelled as she saw Jura's dread speeding after the falling Vanguard.

The blonde pilot laughed maniacally as she got closer to her goal, "Get the camera ready Barnette, you're going to see the perfect elegance of my Vandread now!"

"Are you out of your mind Jura?! Pull up or you'll get fried!" Barnette yelled at her friend but unfortunately her words fell on deaf ears. The dread and the vanguard went past the planet's surface and landed in the water while the cube types were destroyed during the re-entry.

Dita and Seth had tried to assist but some cube fighters got in their way, forcing them to fight them off. But it also lead to another thing happening as Dita's dread and Seth's Alpinia resonated and both were engulfed in a blinding light. After that a new machine stood there in place.

It was a massively armored mech with a blue, black and orange color scheme, had two horns protruding from both sides of its head, red eyes and the shoulders had spikes on it making it look intimidating. It was armed with a massive great sword in both hands.

"What the heck?! Another transformation?!" BC yelled in shock.

"Just like the one with Barnette." Meia muttered in surprise.

The huge mech then cleaved through the enemies in front of it in one wild swing, leaving nothing but debris and explosions. It then charged off towards the other enemies and began attacking wildly with powerful blows, viciously cutting them down and nearly hitting its allies.

"Hey! Watch where you swing that thing!" A dread pilot yelled as she barely avoided being split in two by the mech's huge sword.

"It's attacking like a berserker!" Belvedere reported.

Magno sighed as she and BC saw the mech go nuts on the enemy.

"Indeed it is a berserker. Tell the others to stay out of its way."

The bridge bunnies had warned the other pilots to stay out of the warpath of the blue, black and orange berserker as it went on and cut down more of the cube fighters. Just when there was only the strange ship left more cube fighters appeared to guard it and the massive mech this time kept its distance from them.

**...**

The Nirvana had lost contact with Jura and Hibiki but then they saw something else show up in their place. It seemed that Jura and Hibiki had combined to make a new Vandread...however...what they saw made everyone face fault.

It was crimson red just like Jura's dread, but it had two long appendages almost like claws.

"What is that?" BC asked awkwardly, at the sight of the new Vandread.

"It's a crab." Amarone said comically.

Inside the new Vandread, Hibiki looked over his shoulders and then at the controls in front of him.

"Ok so how does this thing work?" he asked before he noticed Jura started crying, "Hey will you calm down and help me figure this thing out!"

"No!" Jura cried before slamming her hands on the console, causing the ship's thrusters to activate and sending it flying toward the island ahead of them.

**...**

Inside the other mech Seth blinked as he tried to adjust his eyes to the cockpit, only to realize that this was not the inside of the Alpinia. In fact it was completely different as the interior was pitch black with an orange HUD and he sat on his chair while leaning forward while holding two handle bars as if he was riding a bike. He also noticed someone's hands intertwined with his own.

_'Oh you got to be kidding me...' _Seth thought as he knew what had happened. Another combination, but with whom? He heard a young girl gasp behind him and he looked over his shoulder and saw a familiar redhead behind him.

"Um...Mr. Seth?" Dita asked. "Did we combine?"

"Really?! Did you have to ask that!?" Seth replied in annoyance.

_"Seth! Dita! Are you two alright?" _asked Ezra on the comm-link.

"Yes we are Ezra...and yes we are inside this new mech." Seth replied.

**...**

"Are all pilots accounted for?" BC asked the bridge operators.

"Yes commander." Belvedere replied, "All pilots safe and accounted for including Jura and Hibiki, their vitals are showing up in the new Vandread below."

"Scans show minimal to no damage on the Dread teams and that new mech that Seth and Dita are in." Ezra added.

All pilots apart from Hibiki and Jura returned to the ship, with Seth and Dita's mech ending its transformation to separate the pilots. Seth made his way to the bridge.

"So what's the situation with that strange ship?" Seth asked.

"Our attacks did nothing to it and there are some Harvester units still protecting it. Right now we'll hold the line here in case they try anything." BC said. "And what was that machine you created with Dita?"

"How the hell should I know?! It just came up from nowhere when Dita's dread was near the Alpinia and then it did whatever it did." Seth answered.

Before BC could question any further Amarone interrupted her. "There's an incoming message from the planet below!"

"Patch it through" Magno ordered.

The screen appeared above the bridge showing a pale skinned, but lovely young woman with blonde hair almost as long as Jura's and dressed in a light purple robe with a mask hanging from around her neck. She bowed to them and looked up with a smile before speaking.

"Greetings travelers, my name is Fanita and welcome to Anpathos, the most beautiful planet in the entire universe."

"We know about that. Thanks to someone here who's been on your planet." Magno replied as she looked at Seth.

"It's been a while hasn't it Fanita though I doubt you'd recognize me." Seth said as he stared at the woman on the monitor.

Fanita looked puzzled at first, then she gazed at Seth before a look of recognition came on her face.

"Ah! Master Reager, so you've returned to visit us once more?"

Seth shrugged his shoulders. "You could say that, but please stop calling me that. I'm just as much a normal person as you are. Anyways we were just in the area and we happened to be near your planet."

"That's good to hear. And you've also come with the Munya too this time." Fanita said happily.

"Munya?" BC asked in confusion.

"The so called gods they worship. They also mistook me and my group as them." Seth whispered to BC and getting a nod of understanding before turning back to Fanita. "Sorry but these people with me are not the Munya, Fanita."

"They're not?" Fanita asked in confusion.

"I'm afraid there's a misunderstanding." The elderly captain replied, "We are certainly not these 'Munya' you are speaking of. Pardon me for being so direct, but may we visit you, there are several questions I'd like to ask you."

"Our ceremony is underway so I'm afraid we won't be able to greet you properly." Fanita said with a withdrawn expression.

"Oh there's no need to worry about that." Magno waved off. The screen went off after that and the captain contacted Bart in the helmsman portal.

"Bart, can you hear me? I and some members of the crew will be going down to the planet's surface, so I'm leaving you in charge of the ship while I'm down there. And by the way you are forbidden to run away, got it?"

Ignoring Bart's protest, Magno turned to BC and Seth.

"Do you know about this ceremony they're having Seth?" The captain asked the Gradian.

"Not really. The last time I was there our group had to leave as we couldn't stay for long." Seth answered, "But I noticed that they were acting too suspiciously, trying to push their beliefs on the captain, me and my fellow cadets. These 'Munya' especially raised too many red flags."

"I know that which is why I want you and BC to come along with me just in case." Magno said.

"Uh...okay, sure." Seth agreed as he followed Magno and BC out of the bridge.

**...**

"Calm down Dita. I'm sure they're fine." Meia told a worried Dita who had been pacing back and forth outside the hangar after the shuttle with Magno, BC and Seth left down for the planet.

"But Meia! Mr. Alien and Jura are alone on that planet!" Dita cried.

"And the captain, commander and Seth are down there too." Meia pointed out, "Listen I know you're concerned, but you have to have faith that everything will be fine. There's no use worrying about it right now."

**...**

On Anpathos, the shuttle landed on the island. Magno, BC and Seth got off the ship onto land and made their way to a nearby courtyard. All the while Seth was noticeably on edge as he looked around.

"Is something wrong young man?" Magno asked.

"I have a bad feeling about all of this. That's what's wrong." Seth said as he had his hand inside his trench coat where his trusty sidearm was holstered. "These people are acting the same way they did the first time I was here and I have a feeling that I and the others had dodged a bullet the first time."

"Calm down Seth. I have my suspicions as well, but for now let's reserve judgement until we meet these people." Magno stated.

"Hey old lady!" Hibiki's voice called.

Looking to their side, the three of them saw Hibiki rushing over to them, nearly knocking over several people in his rush.

"Little one." Magno said with a smile, "You're safe are you?"

"Where's Jura?" BC asked.

Hibiki huffed and crossed his arms, "I don't want to talk about Ms. Crabby right now."

Seth chuckled at the nickname. "Ms. Crabby? That's a good one Hibiki."

"Well that's because she won't shut up about the machine we made!" Hibiki said.

"Well as long as you're both safe that's all that matters." Magno said with a smile, "Why don't you just come with us for now."

"Hopefully Jura gets out of her useless slump when we're done here." Seth added.

Hibiki joined them and the four made their way towards the tower where Fanita was waiting for them at the base of it.

"Welcome travelers and Master Reager." she said to them, "This is the way to the Holy Path."

"Yes, I remember it. Too bad I didn't get the chance to see it the last time I was here." Seth said. _'And I'd say it was a good thing at the time.'_

"Well lucky for you you'll get the chance this time." Fanita giggled.

"It's very impressive." Magno said as Fanita led her and the others inside the tower, "But would you mind telling us about these Munya you are expecting?"

"They are the ones who guided their ancestors to this planet years ago." Seth answered for her.

"Yes they are. I'm glad you still remember that Master Reager." Fanita said with a smile.

"Like I said no need to call me that Fanita..." Seth sighed, "Just Seth is fine."

"Don't sell yourself short Master Reager. If not for you I would have lost my honor and dignity to one of your dishonorable companions."

"What does she mean by that?" BC asked.

Seth sighed in annoyance. "The last time I was here, my abominable cousin Rugal tried to flirt with Fanita here and when she didn't fall for him he tried to rape her. I beat the crap out of him and saved her in the process. That was what prompted us to leave too although she wanted me to stay behind."

Magno and BC had looks of disgust on their face when they heard of Seth's cousin again.

"Speaking of that fool, where is he now?" Fanita asked.

"He was executed for his crimes." Seth said nonchalantly, "You'll never have to worry about him again."

"Ah! That's great to hear." Fanita said with relief, "Anyways back on topic, like Master Reager said, the Munya guided our ancestors here years ago and according to prophecy they will be in great need of us soon."

"In great need of you?" BC repeated.

"According to our legends they are in need of the spiral code." Fanita said proudly.

_'Spiral code?' _Seth thought before noticing a giant banner hanging on the wall of the temple. It showed a kneeling man with a large spiraling object coming from his back, then the grim realization hit him hard. _'What the hell!? She means the spinal cord!'_

BC noticed Seth's sour expression.

"Something wrong Seth?" she asked as the Gradian glared at Fanita.

"Are you a fucking idiot Fanita?!" Seth yelled.

"W-What?!" Fanita stuttered in shock at the outburst.

"What's wrong Seth?" Hibiki asked.

"The spiral code she's talking about...she means spinal cord!" Seth said shocking the landing party, "Meaning that the Munya these people believe in are you-know-who."

"The Harvesters!" Hibiki yelled.

"Meaning that Fanita here is leading her people to the fucking slaughterhouse!" Seth finished.

"How dare you! You come here and blaspheme against the Munya and then you think you can stop them from coming here?" Fanita yelled.

"These very same Munya you're talking about are only going to kill every single one of you and not care in the slightest." Magno said.

"How can you be so fucking stupid Fanita?! These Munya are only here for your organs and yet you happily lead these people to their deaths?!" Seth added.

"How can you say that Master Reager?!"

"I can because of how stupid this situation is!"

It was also then that BC's communicator beeped as Bart contacted her and Magno told the two about the new and much larger enemy formation which made both officers have grim expressions on their faces.

"It seems your Munya have arrived." Magno stated.

Fanita smiled happily as she ordered the people to put on their masks and begin climbing up the staircase to the top of the tower. However that stopped when a gunshot went off and everyone looked to see Seth pointing his Glock 17 towards the ceiling before he pointed it at Fanita.

"I can't believe what I'm seeing..." Seth said.

"Well I want no part of this stupidity…" Magno said. She turned to leave but she suddenly felt great pain in her back, showing her age as BC tried to help her to her feet but the pain forced her to remain where she was at the moment. Seth kept his weapon aimed at the people in front of him.

"Damn…of all the times for my old bones to give out on me…I guess I'm stuck here." The elder said.

Seth looked over his shoulder at Hibiki and ordered, "Hibiki, get back to Jura and defend the planet and the Nirvana. I don't care how you do it but do whatever it takes."

Hibiki looked back at him, "Yeah, but…what about you three?"

"Shut up. 180 degree turn. Get your ass moving!" Seth barked, startling Hibiki.

"Fine! Just don't die down here okay?" Hibiki told them before running off.

"As if we intend to do that." Seth replied as he focused his aim back on Fanita and her congregation.

Not long after Hibiki left, several overlapping voices flooded BC's radio.

"What should we do?" Bart screamed.

"It's obvious isn't it?" Meia asked him "You want us to defend the ship right?"

Bart could be heard whimpering before he issued his order, "DREAD TEAMS SCRAMBLE!"

The dread teams launched into battle to defend the Nirvana and the planet as best they could.

When Hibiki got back to Jura, the sea levels have risen due to the spikes on the huge pillar that is also having an effect on the planet's weather. He managed to get Jura out of her funk and back into the action with the new Vandread.

**...**

"I don't know about you Fanita but I'm not an idiot and I have no intention of being harvested along with you and the rest of your blind minions, if you want to happily walk to your deaths then be our guests, but we're leaving." Seth said.

"You know that's not possible Seth." Fanita said to him, "Our beliefs and traditions forbid us from resisting."

"No. It's your blind faith and stupidity that's stopping you." Seth replied angrily, "All I see is someone who accepts the bullshit from some fake god instead of making their own decisions."

"How dare you?! What would you know, you and these people come to our beautiful world and spit on our ways? I will not tolerate these insults." Fanita argued. A gunshot went off and a piece of Fanita's mask fell to the floor, stunning everyone. Seth was glaring at Fanita with his gun smoking.

"And what do you plan to do about it?" Seth coldly asked.

"Stand down Seth!" Magno ordered, which the Gradian did reluctantly before she turned to glare at Fanita. "The young man has a point. Are you going to decide things by yourself or would you accept what some false god tells you?"

"Why bother asking her that captain? It's already clear what her answer is." Seth said as he maintained his glare.

Suddenly Bart was heard screaming his head off on the radio. "Ah! We're done for!"

"Grow a spine!" Magno shouted into the radio, "I have been alive for a very long time and seen too many lives cut short along the way. Every time I cursed myself for being so powerless, every time I cursed myself for not being able to do a single thing to save those people. So many regrets. But even in their final moments not a single one of them gave up on life, they were all brave and shining stars to the very end. I'm proud to have known them and even prouder to have called them friends. And this is the reason I could never forgive someone who relied on others to decide their own fates!"

Seth was too angry to give a speech as he just kept his weapon aimed at Fanita. With the bull shit he had to see here, he was inclined to just kill the foolish woman and be done with it but only chose to stay his hand.

"Take control of your life or let some false god do it for you. I don't care about what you choose, just keep the rest of us out of your religious bull shit!" he stated.

**...**

Thanks to Magno's word of encouragement the helmsman held the line and the Dread teams fought hard against the Harvester forces and were doing well. Then a new arrival came on the scene.

Vandread Jura came up above and the crimson red Vandread activated its energy shield system and to the amazement of everyone, including Jura, the shield covered the entire planet and that was enough to halt the Harvesters.

"If anybody can cover an entire planet, I'd love to see them try." Jura said ecstatically. She was totally amazed at what the Vandread could do after all.

"Don't celebrate just yet!" Hibiki warned as he swung his chair against hers inside the machine.

And he was right as the Harvesters were not happy about the new unit in play and they attempted to get rid of the Vandread but its powerful armor more than shrugged off whatever attacks the enemy threw at them. This forced their hand as the vessel that was meant to be used for its harvest opened something that resembled a mouth and moved toward the Vandread and the planet it was protecting, intent of swallowing them both. In response Hibiki brought his fist down on the controls to the new Vandread activating another disc that hovered over the Vandread itself, the new disc summoned a vortex draining water from the planet's ocean up toward it and directing it at the giant machine.

"Feeling hungry huh?" Hibiki asked, "Well here's an all you can eat buffet for you!" Slamming another button, the Vandread fired the water it had sucked up into the approaching machine's mouth. The machine got filled up till it reached its breaking point and exploded from the inside and ending the battle.

The Nirvana crew were in a jubilant mood for another victory over the Harvesters added to their tally.

"That was totally reckless…." Meia commented on the comms.

"But I feel envious…I wish my Vandread with Mr. Alien and Mr. Seth were like Jura's as well." Dita muttered.

"What are you whining about Dita? And I don't think that the combination you made with Seth is a Vandread."

"Oh...then what is it Meia?"

Meia thought about it and came up empty as she had no idea of what to call the combination either.

"You know what...I have no idea."

**...**

In the Vandread Hibiki sighed in victory and Jura was all smiles at her Vandread's successful debut.

"Did you get it all on tape Barnette?!" Jura contacted Barnette.

"I was too busy trying not to get shot down to record the damn thing!" Barnette replied with a tick mark.

Jura whined in disappointment at her missed chance but she got over it quickly as she was happy that everything turned out all right. She then gave Hibiki a very seductive and sly look which got Hibiki's attention as Jura edged closer to him since the chairs in the Vandread they formed with their respective machines were able to move about in the cockpit.

"What are you doing?!" Hibiki asked nervously.

Jura smiled and then hugged Hibiki and spoke in a low and seductive tone.

"From now on…you'll combine only with me…won't you?"

Hibiki didn't know why but he was suddenly getting hot and bothered by Jura's close proximity and he couldn't help but suddenly feel this odd stirring in his stomach and heart as the blonde came ever closer and he found out that despite his best intentions…he found himself giving her the once over and he found himself looking at Jura's breasts...

"HEY! LEAVE MR. ALIEN ALONE!"

The two turned and there was Dita on the screen with a deep look of anger and jealousy. The redhead was not happy when she saw Jura being close to her Mr. Alien and she was not in the mood for her comrade Jura getting too familiar with Hibiki. Jura glared back and replied.

"Leave us alone Dita! From now on…he's combining with me!"

"No he won't!"

"Oh yes he will!"

"No!"

...

Fanita fell to her knees in shock and anger. She couldn't believe what had happened right before her eyes. These strangers had defeated the Munya and destroyed their chance for salvation.

"You…how could you?!" She said in anger and sadness.

"We did what we knew what was right…unlike you my dear." Magno replied to the blonde leader, "These Munya you believe in are nothing but vile machines that have a twisted purpose to harvest any humans they can find. A real god watches and guides us like the lost sheep we humans are. A real god doesn't come to us and ask us for something."

"HOW DARE YOU?! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DO THIS BLASPHEMY!"

CRAACKK!

Fanita dropped on her rear after being punched hard in the face just enough to break her mask and remove it from her face. Two of her people rushed to her side to check on her. Fanita looked up to see an enraged Seth Reager glaring at her with hate and contempt which scared her.

"YOU STUPID BITCH!" Seth yelled as he walked towards her. Two men from the congregation ran towards him only to end up on the floor in pain after Seth shot them both in the legs. The Gradius pilot walked in front of Fanita with his gun out and aimed at her head.

"Seth! What are you doing?!" Magno shouted in shock.

"Can you believe the audacity of this bitch?! We just saved her and her people from a gruesome demise and yet this fucking idiot still believes that she's leading her people to the right path!" Seth yelled back, "Their so called gods planned to butcher them and rip their spines from every last one of them, man, woman and child! Yet she was more than happy to lead them to such a fate! Why should I not just kill this waste of space right now huh? If I had known that she was going to do this I would have killed the bitch."

"There's no need for that Seth. Right now they're no longer sheep but free people who can now choose their own fate instead of false gods."

Seth sighed and holstered his gun and held a hand over his forehead while looking over to BC and Magno.

"Can we leave this planet captain? If I stay here any longer I'll go ballistic on her and these fools here."

"Yes...we're leaving now anyways." Magno said as the three left the tower and boarded the shuttle and were now on their way back to the Nirvana while leaving the people of Anpathos to rethink their lives.

**...**

Meanwhile somewhere in space, three space ships flew at high speed as they were in pursuit of something or someone. The pilots had gotten a tip from someone about a person of interest they were looking for and were now on the trail of such person. They just hoped that they would find this person and return home without any complications.

* * *

**Chapter XII End.**

**Seth revisits Anpathos with the last time being when he was still a cadet at Gradius and gets to see Fanita once again.**

**A new mech combination is here and it'll be called Berserker since it's more or less a raging powerhouse. **

**Read &amp; Review and no mindless flames or rants.**


	13. A Different Christmas for Seth

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**AN: I need ideas for how to make the story much more interesting. PM me those ideas for the next chapters if you want or I'll continue to write this my own way. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. Leave it at that!**

**Chapter XIII: A Different Christmas for Seth**

* * *

Seth was jogging through the corridors of the Nirvana all the while noticing that it was much livelier than it normally was. He noticed the women carrying around boxes which contained all kinds of decorations and they were decorating the ship with said decorations. Then it clicked for him: it was the 25th of December aka Christmas Day.

Seth had mixed feelings about this day, mainly because of his life back on Gradius. He only celebrated Christmas a few times with the Verons before their BS neglect began. Then he spent other ones alone in his own place and prison before he spent the last good ones with the Reagers. Christmas in prison were the worst as his only present was being able to live to see the next day. The best ones were of course the ones he enjoyed with the Reagers were they celebrated as a proper family.

Seth arrived in the bridge and saw more decorations being put up. He cracked a small smile as it was good to see that the women could celebrate such an occasion.

"What the heck are they all doing at this time of the day?"

"As far as I can tell it looks like some kind of festival."

Seth turned to his right to see the three Tarakans looking at the women in confusion.

"They are decorating the ship for Christmas dumb ass!" Seth said to Bart.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know that?" The blonde navigator protested.

Seth sighed in annoyance, "Let me guess this is your first Christmas right?"

"Yes it is...unfortunately." Duero answered, "I take it that you celebrate Christmas on Gradius?"

"Yeah…I have been celebrating Christmas since I was younger and had…better days." Seth said bitterly.

"Do you know what this Christmas thing is Seth?" Hibiki asked.

"Yeah...Christmas is a yearly festival that was celebrated by our ancestors where people give family, friends, relatives and so on presents. Its origin is based on an old Earth tale about a famous man named Santa Claus which was short for Saint Nicholas, who went around delivering toys to good children on this very day. He's apparently a jolly fellow who wears read and white, has white hair and beard and always rode on a sleigh with several reindeer pulling along the sleigh. At least that's how I remember it." Seth explained.

"That's fascinating…" Duero spoke up, "To think that such a festival actually existed in our ancestor's times…What else can you tell us about Christmas Seth?"

"There's also the tradition of giving gifts to others on this day." Seth answered. The three Tarakans looked at one another and gave the Gradian confused looks making him sweat drop at their cluelessness. "I'm going to ask this even though I have an idea what the answer's going to be…What the hell do you men do on that desert rock if you don't celebrate Christmas?"

"We do have festivals...Mostly military parades and showing off. Not exactly entertaining to say the least...right guys?" Bart said.

"No kidding…Boring as hell!" Hibiki said.

"I agree with you…Those festivals back home were not that interesting either." Duero added.

'_Wow…It's even worse than what I saw in the reports.'_ Seth thought in disbelief, "Well good news for you three, you get to experience Christmas for the first time and see what you've been missing."

It was then that a door opened and out came a certain redhead who smiled warmly and rushed towards Hibiki.

"Mr. Alien!"

"GAH!"

Knowing what was going to happen next the Gradian left them to themselves. He then noticed Meia who seemed to be annoyed by what was going on and decided to find out why, walking over to her and leaned against the wall.

"Someone isn't in a jolly mood. Why's that?" he asked the Dread Squadron leader.

Meia gave him a half glare from the corner of her eye. "I'm not big on holiday celebration. Our enemy could still strike at any moment so we need to stay alert."

Seth nodded at her as she had a very good point. "While that is true Meia there's nothing wrong with having some fun today and easing off some of that tension you have. I know I do and so does the crew especially with all that we've been through."

Meia turned her head to look at the Gradius pilot who was sighing. "I know that you deserve the time off considering how stressed you've been lately."

"Yeah…I know. With all the crap I've had to deal with especially with telling you all about my past and the other issues I really need the break."

"True but as for me I'm fine and I'll be on my guard."

With her point made, Meia turned walked past Seth and out of the bridge.

'_She's very diligent I'll give her that much…Just like me back at the academy. But she really needs to loosen up.' _Seth thought.

…

Entering the ship's garden section, Seth saw more of the changes the crew had made to garden and the bridge above it. The Gradian hid it, but he was happy to see everyone enjoying themselves.

'_After everything we've been through we really deserve a holiday and hopefully it stays that way.' _Seth thought.

Suddenly he saw two large decorations being dangled in front of him. Seth saw that Ezra was holding a bell and star ornament.

"Someone's in a good mood." Seth muttered to himself.

"Hey Seth, which one of these decorations should we put on the tree?" Ezra asked with a giggle.

"Do you really need my opinion on something so trivial?" Seth asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Aww it's not trivial Seth. I'm just looking for a second opinion on which decoration to pick." The bridge bunny pouted.

"Really? You want a second opinion from a fighter pilot?" Seth deadpanned.

"Yes!"

"Fine…" Seth then looked at both of the ornaments and made up his mind. "Go with both of them."

"Huh? Why both?" Ezra asked in confusion.

"Simple…Both are good decorations so put both up on the tree." Seth answered as he walked past her and out of the bridge.

…

**BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Gunshots echoed in the shooting range as Seth was hitting target upon target with his Glock 17. While he was at it he had a flashback about his last meeting with Rugal Veron on Christmas Eve...

_Flashback begins…_

_**SPLASH!**_

"_Ugh!" A white haired youth groaned as he was awoken by the cold rush of water to his face. "I must have drunk too much last night…" He then noticed that he wasn't in his apartment and also unable to move as his hands were bound to his back and his feet were also bound together. "W-What the hell?! W-Where am I?"_

"_On your one way trip to hell…" A male voice said as the owner emerged from the shadows revealing Seth Reager. "…Rugal Veron."_

"_Seth…" Rugal growled, then he began to struggle to get out of his bindings._

"_Don't bother. I tied you up tight with some good rope. Struggling will only tire you out." Seth stated._

"_What do you think you're doing?!" Rugal demanded, "Don't you realize who you're dealing with?"_

"_Oh I do…traitor!" Seth remarked with a grin as he walked up to Rugal with a sawed-Off Shotgun in hand and sat on a chair in front of him. "You're the last of Rabat's inside men, right __**cousin**__?"_

_Rugal stiffened which made Seth's grin grow wider. "That would be a yes!"_

"_I don't know what you're talking about." Rugal denied._

"_Of course you don't. You're a damn good liar and manipulator…The kind of person Rabat would like." Seth said as he pulled out a folder and opened it on the floor. "Look at this."_

_Rugal looked down and then turned his face away only to get punched in the face._

"_LOOK AT IT YOU BASTARD!" Seth yelled._

_Rugal obeyed and looked at the documents in the folder. It contained payments from an unknown account to Rugal's own, detailed conversations between him and Rabat himself and even discs that had the recording of said conversations and then mission records and plans of Gradius' defense network._

"_All this a good friend of mine uncovered. Same one whose life you also made hell with your manipulations. Remember the name Miranda Locke prick? Of course you do…She was more than happy to get all these and even intercept that delivery that had those plans." Seth said, smiling as Rugal paled, "Face it Rugal, you're finished!"_

"_C-C'mon cousin…" Rugal tried to reason, "Surely you can't take her words over mine."_

"_Actually I can. She's a lot more honest than a piece of shit like you would ever be." Seth remarked._

"_P-Please cousin…W-We can work something out!" Rugal begged._

"_Sorry to disappoint you Rugal but there's no negotiation here." Seth sneered and pointed the gun at Rugal's terrified face, "After making my life hell along with those Verons, stealing the girl I once loved and making her a fucking skank and then trying to sell Gradius out, you still have the gall to call me cousin and try to negotiate your way out of this? You're fucking pathetic…Oh by the way, Merry Christmas you piece of shit!"_

"_NOOOOOOO!"_

_**BANG!**_

_Rugal's head exploded into nothing but blood and brain matter after being blasted by the sawed-off shotgun. Seth blankly looked at the headless corpse and then loaded the weapon once more and blasted the body too. After that he tossed the weapon on the body and walked out of the abandoned warehouse. _

_After walking a good distance away he took out a device with a button on it, pushed the button and continued walking. The warehouse went up in a large explosion as Seth continued walking without bothering to look back._

_Flashback end…_

Seth smiled at that memory. Sending Rugal to hell was one hell of a Christmas gift he gave himself. That guy had been a menace on Gradius but thanks to his manipulative skills and his use of the Veron family name he had been able to get away with things that would have normally gotten an average person on Gradius in prison or executed. He put those thoughts aside as he reloaded his handgun, activated the safety and placed the weapon in the holster and left the shooting range.

…

In the kitchen, Jura and Barnette were not very happy right now as they gazed at the burned turkey and looked at the newly thawed one. There wasn't enough time to ready another roasted one in time for the soon to come Christmas dinner and this was thanks to a certain redhead earlier.

"What are we going to do? We don't have enough time to properly marinate this one and it would take another hour or so to cook this one and we'll be late. Oh I wish Dita wasn't such a ditz at times!" Jura lamented.

Barnette couldn't agree more and wished that maybe there was a way out of their predicament as she didn't want all their hard work to go to waste.

"Nice turkey you got there ladies."

The two women turned towards the door to see Seth leaning by the wall beside the doorway with a sarcastic grin on his face.

"This isn't the time to be funny Seth!" Barnette yelled, before getting hit on the forehead by a paper ball.

"Pipe down…I'm not deaf you know." Seth said before pointing to the burnt turkey. "Sarcasm aside I know you're good cooks so I know that there's no way in hell that you'd let that happen."

"Why thank you Seth." Jura responded well to the compliment, "As for the turkey you can thank Dita for that. She was meant to watch it but she just had to be a ditz which resulted in this. Now we don't have enough time to cook the other one and the other dishes. By the time we're done it'll be too late and we'd have now make due with only side dishes for the Christmas feast!"

"I see…Well consider yourselves lucky ladies, as I'm about to bail you out." Seth said, surprising the women.

"Seth…You can cook?" Jura asked.

"Yeah right! As if a man like you can cook anything." Barnette mocked.

"Oh I can cook alright. Had to learn to after having to live on my own most of my life." Seth replied, "Besides I'm bored and I need something to do before I go crazy."

"Well if you're volunteering to help then who am I to stop you?" Jura shrugged.

Barnette was surprised at that Jura accepted and spoke out, "Jura! You can't be seriously accepting his help."

"What's wrong Barnette? Afraid that a man would be a better cook than you?" Seth mocked as he tightened his durag, "How about we make this interesting and make a competition out of this? Winner gets bragging rights and tells the loser what to do. You up for that?"

Barnette looked at Seth like he'd grown another head. This man thought he could cook better than her? Oh she's going to make him regret challenging her! A huge grin came on Barnette's face that told Seth that she accepted the challenge.

Jura sighed as she looked back and forth at the two grinning pilots who were about to turn the kitchen into their personal battleground before she put on a light smile.

"Well then…You two can have your cook-off while I'll deal with the turkey. Oh and may the best cook win."

Seth and Barnette wasted no time getting the cook-off on the way.

…

Dita, Hibiki, Bart and Duero were going through a storage room they discovered thanks to Hibiki tripping through a hidden door. Now they were trying to find decorations for the celebration tonight. So far they had found some old and dusty items that they hadn't seen before.

"What's all this stuff?" Dita asked as she looked at the items before her. Duero walked over to an object covered in dust and ran his finger across it.

"Judging from the dust...I'd say that they are items from the Colonization Era." He said, "No one's ever been here for the past hundred years. Still to see all these artifacts in our own ship and to know that all these items were right under our very noses for that matter is rather surprising…I guess looking throughout the ship can yield even more information on how things were back in the Colonization Era."

"Hmm…I still am not sure what we can do with all these things…" Hibiki said.

"Hey…what's this thing?"

The other turned and looked at Dita as she held something that seemed like a rectangular object and it had some decorations on it and the words 'Christmas with the family.'

"What do you suppose this is?" Bart asked.

"I don't know…but it looks like something that has to do with Christmas." Duero guessed as he too looked at it.

"Can we see what's inside?" Dita asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Seth may have a better idea about it." Duero said.

"That's not a bad idea." Bart remarked, "Since Seth knows about this Christmas stuff he might know about this thing too."

…

Back in the kitchen, a battle was raging on as several of the Nirvana crew came there and smelled the food being prepared…only to be shocked as they saw Seth and Barnette cooking the Christmas feast at a fast and furious pace, both trying to outdo the other in their cook-off. While the women knew about Barnette's cooking skills they did not expect the skilled and notorious Gradius pilot to be such a skilled cook too.

Jura who just finished with the turkey nearly dropped it as she saw the growing amount of food dishes that Seth and Barnette had prepared behind them: boiled rice, chicken fried rice, BBQ chicken, roasted beef ribs, beef stew, vegetable salads, fruit salads, fried fish were just some of the dishes the man and woman had prepared. In less than two hours the dishes had been prepared.

"Game, set, match!" Seth said.

"Now we need someone to decide the winner." Barnette said, "Not that it'll be a contest."

"Already calling yourself the victor? Ha! It ain't over until the fat lady sings and she sure as hell hasn't done that!" Seth countered.

Jura's whistling got the two's attention as she looked in amazement at the huge feast.

"I have to say…you two have outdone yourselves. You prepared double the amount of meals for the Christmas feast. I guess you two having your cook-off was a good thing after all."

"Thanks for the compliment but I'll be satisfied after you all eat what I've prepared and decide the winner." Seth said as he sighed in relief. "I'll leave the rest to you Jura, I'm off to have a nap. Wake me up when the party's about to begin."

The audience allowed the Gradian to pass as he walked out of the kitchen. They still found it hard to believe that the man who was wanted by the home planet for shooting down many of their pilots could prepare dishes like a master chef.

…

While Seth was walking back to his quarters, tired from all that cooking he did he bumped into Dita who had been looking for him.

"Hello Dita. What's the hurry?"

"Hey Seth! I've been looking for you. We found somethings that you may know about."

Seth raised an eyebrow in interest. "Really? Something that I'd know about?"

"Yes! C'mon!"

The redhead grabbed the Gradian's arm and dragged him all the way to the room where she and the others had found the items.

"Nice of you to join us Seth." Bart remarked as Seth straightened himself out.

"This had better be worth my time or…" Seth said but stopped as he saw the items, some of which he recognized seeing in Miranda's collections. "I recognize some of these things here…A friend of mine actually collects these things."

"Really…Maybe you'd know what this one is…" Duero said as he showed him the rectangular object Dita found.

"That's a VHS cassette tape..." Seth said in surprise, "And in good condition too…I'm surprised something like this would still be around after being discontinued for use of CDs and DVDs." He then began looking around. "If I can recall we'll need a cassette player to play this thing…Aha!"

Like that he had found the device in question and easily plugged it to a nearby television and it was soon ready to play. Unknown to him, he had wired it directly into the live video feeds in the entire ship.

…

All over the ship the video that was found earlier was playing for everyone to see. It starts off with a fireplace then to a woman with a baby all in a quaint home. To most of the crew members it looked like a typical Christmas on Mejere. They were happy and the Mejerian women gave comments on how nice it looked and how cute the baby was and how beautiful the mother was too, that is until another person came into view.

A man!

The women were utterly dumbstruck and couldn't help but gape in shock at what they were watching before them and it was obvious that none of them were expecting to see the video of a man and woman living under the very same roof and with a child…except Magno who was part of the First Generation during the Colonization era. The same could be said for the shocked men with the…exception of Seth who was now too busy laughing his head off. There was proof right there of a man and woman being together.

"I'd love to see you all argue that!" He said before he continued laughing.

…

"That is just wrong!" Bart ranted after he and everyone else on the ship had seen the video that had played earlier. He was in the med bay with Duero, Hibiki and Seth and he'd been ranting ever since.

"For the love of all things holy shut up! You're sounding like a broken record and it's getting on my nerves." Seth snapped, irritated at the blonde's ranting. He then took out another one of his medicine and took out a bottle of water and chugged them down.

"Please calm down Seth…Like many of us he's trying to come to terms with what he saw." Duero said before he took out some tablets from a nearby container and handed them to Bart along with a glass of water. "Here…take these before you lose yourself."

Bart wasted no time grabbing the tablets and glass and chugged down the tablets and drank the water. He gave an explosive breath of release after that to show that the pills were doing their job and he was utterly happy for it.

"There is no way a man can live with a woman…" he ranted once more.

The sound of a gun's safety being turned off caught the Tarakans' attention as they turned to see their Gradian comrade pointing his handgun at Bart and he was not any happier.

"I don't like to repeat myself you moron…The evidence was right there in front of you and by the way…that is normal on Gradius."

"But…That kind of thing will never happen on Tarak! No way!"

"One: you're NOT on Tarak! Two: You've been living on a ship with women in it! Three: Men and Women can live under the same roof! It's neither impossible nor wrong! Get it through your fucking skull you ignorant twat!"

Duero thought about that and had to agree with Seth. It did make sense that since there was a massive fleet that left Earth during the Colonization Era all those years ago so it was possible that the other ships would have both male and female crews on them as he had seen that men and women can actually live together in the same space in the case of the Nirvana crew.

Seth got up and holstered his weapon before glaring at the blonde cadet and walking out of the med bay.

"Sheesh! What's his problem?" Bart asked.

Duero turned to the blonde cadet and said, "Seth has a point, Bart. If the Ikazuchi was part of a colonization mission from Earth…then it would make sense that there were other ships that were part of the fleet and have no doubt settled on other planets. Anpathos is proof that men and women could live together. We saw further proof of this with that video and yet you're denying it all. That's why Seth's angry at you."

Bart had nothing to counter Duero's point and Hibiki kept quiet as he kept thinking about that video once more.

…

In the hangar, Meia was riding the lift to her Dread as she planned to head out to perform some recon since she had no interest in the festivities.

"Hey Meia, aren't you going to the party?" A voice asked Meia, she looks down to see Gascogne.

"It's times like these that someone has to remain alert." Meia replied. Suddenly the hangar door slid open and in walked an irate Seth who was swearing all kinds of profanities that both women did not expect to hear from him and causing them to sweat drop.

"Not interested in the party Seth?" Gascogne asked as Seth climbed into the Alpinia ignoring them completely and closing the cockpit. "Well someone's in a bad mood if his colorful choice of words is anything to go by."

Meia didn't comment as she entered her dread and took off to begin her patrol.

…

Inside the Alpinia, Seth was fuming in anger. That moronic blonde Bart saw evidence that proved that men and women could coexist just like they were meant to all along and yet he was trying to reject it. What idiocy! How could someone be so blind and stupid…Oh right! He's the result of upbringing on that desert rock Tarak. That explains everything. At least Hibiki and Duero were considering what they saw and thinking on it.

'_Maybe I was too harsh on him.' _Seth thought. _'I know that it's all new to him and he'll need time to get used to it but the ignorance and idiocy just pisses me off.'_

He then looked at the console and switched it on and saw that he had messages in his inbox. _'Oh yeah. I haven't checked my inbox for ages. I might as well do that now that I'm here.'_

Seth checked his inbox and saw only three messages in it. He decided to read them all and reply to them if possible. The first one was from the leader of the planet Akzerith who wanted to know how their hero was doing and also inform him that her daughters wanted to know when next he was visiting. Seth sighed at that and wrote a brief reply to that one.

The second one was from Gradius…and it was from the owner of the café he used to go to after being released from prison. She was asking about how he was doing and missing her favorite customer. She also mentioned that she knew about what he did before his exit but wouldn't pass judgement on him.

The third and final one was from an irate Miranda who had been so worried about him and wondered why he hadn't contacted her for months. That Seth chuckled at as he knew about how overprotective she got when it came to his health. Then there was the info about the task force that Gradius had sent to hunt him down and Miranda had the names of the three-man team. Seth already knew about the first two members…That _brat _Naomi Veron and Cecilia Daley, his former team mates during Operation Solar Assault. The last name however made his blood freeze for almost a minute before it boiled in intense rage. Of all the people they had to send they sent _her!? _What kind of stupid joke were they playing on him!

Feeling his anger getting worse Seth calmed himself down and turned off the console. He'll reply to those messages later. He opened the cockpit and climbed out of the ship just as he'd saw Meia and Hibiki arrive in the hangar causing him to raise an eyebrow in confusion. Then he saw Dita arrive to give him a wrapped up gift while Hibiki gave her a chunk of ice which melted to reveal a seedling that quickly bloomed, much to the redhead's joy. Seth and Meia smiled at the happy scene and both left the hangar.

…

The time had come and Nirvana crew began enjoying Christmas as the party began. Gift giving was on as the crew gave and received Christmas gifts. Jura received a beautiful ring from Barnette and Barnette got a kiss and a bracelet as well. Duero gave Parfait a painting he had worked on, much to the amazement and happiness of the engineer. Seth just watched as the crew enjoyed themselves and he cracked a smile as he too seemed to enjoy the party.

Then the Christmas feast was next and everyone was impressed by delicious food and were even more surprised when they heard that half of it had been cooked by Seth himself due to the cooking competition he had with Barnette. When everyone had finished Barnette had asked for everyone's judgement on who the better cook was. The crew found it hard to pick as both meals made by both had been very good and everyone enjoyed the feast…so they decided that the contest was a draw. Barnette didn't take too kindly to it, but after being chided by Jura she reluctantly accepted it while Seth didn't care and was glad the crew enjoyed his cooking. Although he told Barnette they could have a tiebreaker at the shooting range to settle things, which she agreed to very quickly.

…

In the garden Seth lied down on a bench and relaxed after his tie breaker with Barnette which ended in a draw AGAIN. Damn she was just as good as he was with a gun and that made him happy that he had a friendly rivalry with the young woman. Meanwhile, memories of his time with his real parents came back to him. It had been years since he left Gradius after Operation Solar Assault was completed. He thought of the good times he had before and after being adopted by the Reagers. Unlike his birth parents the Reagers actually raised him like good parents should and Seth was happy for that. When he heard of their deaths, a part of him died along with them but when he saw that recording from the Red Vixen pilots whatever he lost got replaced by rage and revenge. Even when he got the revenge he wanted he never felt any better as he only felt empty. Since then Seth had closed himself off from others, mainly being neutral or cold to others except the café owner and Miranda.

"So this is where you've been, I thought you'd be in your room by now."

Seth opened his eyes and saw Gascogne standing over him.

"Hello Gascogne. You were looking for me?"

"Yes I was. I noticed that everyone gave each other presents with the exception of you." Gascogne said.

"Well Christmas hasn't really been the best day for me considering past experiences." Seth stated as he sat up.

"Fair enough...Well I have a present for you Seth." The Reg Central leader grinned as she brought out a small box from behind her and presented it to the surprised Gradian.

"U-Uh…U-Um…Seriously? F-For me?" Seth stuttered in disbelief as he received the present.

Gascogne raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "Of course it is. Who else did you think it was for?"

"Well don't get me wrong. It's not like I expected anyone to give me a present not to mention a Christmas present. Still…thanks Gascogne."

"Your welcome Seth and Merry Christmas to you. Well aren't you going to open it?"

The Gradian wasted no time ripping through the wrapping and opened the small present. Silence followed as Seth looked at what was inside the box with a forlorn expression.

"W-Where did you get this?" Seth asked as he pulled out something that looked very familiar to him. A platinum locket that had the inscription "Reager family" on it. Opening it he saw the picture of him and the Reagers posing for a family picture at the Burton National Park back on Gradius.

"Well before those idiotic Vixens did what they did one of them took this from your mother and looked at what was inside before tossing it away. I spotted it outside the execution room and saw the picture inside. I tried to find the owner but I was too late after I'd seen the execution which was played all over Mejere." Gascogne explained. "Means a lot to you does it?"

Seth closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. "Yeah…it does. This photo was taken after I'd been acquitted and released from prison. It was…a jubilant day for the three of us…"

"I see…" Gascogne muttered, "Now you have it back in your possession. After I'd heard your story I remembered a certain item that was in my possession and when I checked I saw this. Since Christmas was coming I thought I'd give it back to you as a present…" Almost immediately after she said that Gascogne found herself in a big hug courtesy of a teary eyed Seth.

"Thank you for the present Gascogne…Thank you for making this Christmas a good one for me." Seth said with gratitude.

Gascogne was caught off guard by the hug from the male but also from the fact that she was seeing him this vulnerable, something she never thought would happen considering his ironclad will.

"Yeah…You're welcome Seth." Gascogne said, patting the Gradian's back. She also got to see a genuine smile on the young man's face too and felt good about making him happy.

…

Meanwhile somewhere in space a long distance from the Nirvana, three ships continued at high speed towards their target but were still no closer to finding such target.

"_Sheesh…we've been travelling for days and yet we're not any closer to finding that Nirvana that guy mentioned. Are you sure he wasn't lying to us?"_ a female voice asked.

"_Yes I'm sure. I'm pretty damned good at deciphering between truth and bullshit and I'm sure that the guy was telling us the truth. Besides the coordinates he gave us checked out as there was proof that the Nirvana was there before moving on." Another female voice replied._

"_Well I hope that we find the Nirvana and also hope that the crew on board cooperate with us and hand us the fugitive without giving us any complications."_

"_I'm with you on that though I have a feeling that the chance of that going smoothly is very low and we may have to take drastic measures."_

"_Let's hope it won't come to that."_

The pilot of the third ship said nothing and just continued with the others towards their target though said pilot was dreading the moment when they find their target and the resulting confrontation.

* * *

**Chapter XIII End.**

**Confrontation incoming! How good/bad are things going to get? Find out next chapter.**

**Read &amp; Review. Flames will be ignored and deleted.**


	14. Three-Way Conflict

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. Leave it at that!**

**Chapter XIV: Three-Way Conflict**

* * *

Seth was lying on his bed in his room, deep in thought about something that the Captain, BC and Meia talked to him about an hour ago. Something he did not expect from them either…

"_Are you serious?!" Seth asked in disbelief. _

"_Yes, we are Seth. We've deliberated on it for a while and we've come to an agreement. We want you to take a more active role on the ship and as a leader of your own team and as Meia's second in command." Magno explained. _

"_Besides you already proved yourself to be a capable leader during that mission on that desert planet on top of mentioning you past experience as a team leader." BC added._

"_Are you sure about that? I thought I made it clear that I'd rather operate solo than in a team after that last experience. Though granted Meia's less of a bitch than she was back then…No offence by the way."_

"_None taken." Meia waved it off. _

"_I know that you may not like it but like we said your piloting skills and experience make you a good choice. Add to that you've proven yourself an invaluable ally even when you had every reason to leave us." Magno said._

"_I get the idea of being a team leader but second in command…what of Jura or Barnette? They've been around longer than I have." Seth brought up._

"_True but compared to them you're much more experienced and skilled than them. Heck your skills far surpass everyone in the Dread Squadron." Meia said. _

"_Also at least we know you'll be able to take command instantly if anything happens if that same mission said something." BC added. _

_Seth sighed, "I see your point but I still need to think about this Captain. This is all just unexpected."_

"_Well take your time to think about it Seth." Magno said. _

_Seth got up from his seat and left the conference room._

Seth sighed once more and closed his eyes. This wasn't something he expected. Sure it makes him much more involved with the crew but it wasn't exactly welcoming to him as he's mostly worked solo with the only times working with a team being during that exploration to Anpathos, Operation Reprisal, Operation Solar Assault with the _brat_ and Cecilia, and that one time mission where he led a mercenary team on an assault mission. Apart from those times Seth worked solo and preferred it that way. However ever since he joined the Nirvana he had been getting used to fighting alongside them, heck even enjoying it. While some have changed their views on men there were still others that still kept their hatred for men, and even more their hatred for Gradius and especially him for his actions at Operation Reprisal.

Now can he handle being a leader of not just a team but a team of women from a planet that has no love for his home not to mention himself? Can he deal with the issues that are bound to come up? He'll have to think of an answer soon and get this out of the way. Unfortunately as he's about to sleep the ship alarms go off signaling the arrival of their familiar and persistent enemy.

'_I can't sleep because of those SOBs! Just great…' _Seth thought as he quickly got into his flight suit and rushed out of his room. However he had no idea about another familiar enemy showing up again.

…

The Alpinia, Vanguard and Dreads shot out of the hangar and into space immediately engaging the enemy. But before they could open fire on them, the enemy formation was suddenly destroyed in seconds.

"Uh…What the hell just happened?!" Hibiki exclaimed in confusion.

"I'm just as confused as you are Hibiki." Seth said, but mentally he was shocked as he had an idea who attacked. _'What the hell!? They are here too?!'_

"Well if we didn't shoot them down then who did?" Jura asked, "Allies?"

"Maybe more good aliens!" Dita added happily.

"I don't think so Dita…" Seth stated. "Keep your guard up."

"I take it you have an idea who it is then." Meia said.

"Maybe. We'll be finding that out in a moment."

The answer came very quickly when the pilots spotted another formation shooting down another group of Harvester ships. This ships looked oddly organic and looked like bacteria and it was making many of the crew feel sick. As for Seth he was more shocked and angered by the sight of them.

"What the hell are those ships?" Jura gasped.

"Ewww! They look disgusting." Dita cried in disgust.

"Like it wasn't already obvious!" Barnette deadpanned.

…

"The unknown forces are attacking the Harvesters!" Ezra reported in surprise.

"That's a surprise and here I thought we were their only enemies." Magno said.

"It seems that the Harvesters have another form of opposition apart from us." BC stated, "Though the question is are they friend or foe?"

"That we'll find out soon enough." Magno said as she continued to watch the battle coming to a close.

…

A moment later the remaining Harvester units were destroyed. The new group turned to the Nirvana crew. The moment they saw the Alpinia they began to attack them.

"The unknown group are attacking us!" Amarone alerted.

"Looks like we have our answer." Magno said.

"Everyone defend yourselves!" BC ordered.

…

"You don't have to tell us twice!" Hibiki snapped as his Vanguard dodged an attack by an enemy and countered, slicing it into pieces with its sword.

"Less talking, more shooting and dodging!" Seth snapped as he flew right at the enemy.

"They're bad and disgusting aliens!" Dita cried out.

"Thanks for clarifying the obvious Dita!" Jura yelled.

"Old friends of yours, Seth?" Meia deadpanned as she and the other dread pilots had to dodge laser fire and missiles from the new enemy and responded with their own.

"Friends of no one actually." Seth answered as he wasted no time firing two Psycom missiles at the enemy. What happened next was unexpected as those missile scattered into smaller missiles and bombarded a group of enemy ships resulting in fireworks and explosions. _'Okay…That's new…'_ he thought, _'…Another surprise from the Paksis huh…'_

Most of the enemy ships stopped attacking the Dreads and turned their focus on the Gradius space fighter.

"The unknown enemy is focusing on the Alpinia!" Belvedere reported.

"What?!" BC gasped.

"They obviously see Seth as the bigger threat." Magno stated.

"Even so why go after only Seth and ignore the others?"

"I don't know but I have a feeling our Gradian pilot does."

…

'_So you guys have decided to show up here too huh?' _Seth thought. _'Though I wonder why you're killing the Harvesters. Not like I mind that of course, but still strange anyways.'_

Seth pulled off many defensive maneuvers avoiding the hail of laser fire and other projectiles fired by the unknown enemy. He countered with laser fire, Psycom missiles and Options support taking down some of them. That didn't deter the enemy as they continued to swarm the Gradius space fighter with more attacks, but once again they couldn't hit their target as the Alpinia weaved through the hail of lasers and projectiles and then returned fire with Psycom missiles which scattered into smaller missiles and destroyed more of them. Seeing their numbers getting reduced very quickly the enemy decided to spread out and bombard the Alpinia with strafing runs. Seth countered them with Mind Blasts and Options putting those efforts to waste.

The dread pilots had dealt with some of the new enemy had a few casualties but none of them serious. Then they saw the battle between the Gradian and the rest of the unknown enemy. At first they were worried for Seth and about to assist him but were now looking in awe as the Gradian once more showed why he was considered a one man squadron…and feared and hated by Mejere as 'The Mejerian Butcher'.

"Wow! Mr. Seth's very powerful!" Dita cheered.

"Showoff." Hibiki and Barnette muttered.

"He's so elegant! Fantastic! Powerful!" Jura said with stars in her eyes.

'_I'm really glad that Seth's not my enemy.' _Meia thought after seeing that display of skill. _'No wonder our people hate and fear him.'_

Even with their rapidly reducing numbers the enemy didn't deter from the fight and kept coming at the Alpinia but unfortunately for them the dreads and Vandread Dita stopped staying at the sidelines and took them out quickly.

"You alright Seth? You had most of the enemy on you." Meia asked her fellow pilot.

"I'm good. Thanks for asking. That was nothing though." The Gradian casually responded.

"Nothing!? You had most of the enemy swarming you and you call that nothing?!" Hibiki asked in disbelief.

"This is nothing compared to what I and many other Gradians normally contend with, which by the way is MUCH more."

"All enemies have been destroyed." Amarone announced.

"Everyone back to the Nirvana!" BC ordered the team. The Dreads, Vandread and Alpinia returned back to the Nirvana. Seth was also ordered to come to the bridge and he obeyed, wasting no time rushing to the bridge.

"I take it that you want to ask me about the enemy we just engaged." The Gradian stated.

"Yes, it's clear that you know about them considering how they were so hell bent on killing you and how you handled them." Magno replied.

"Well you all have a right to know though I'm still confused about why they attacked the Harvesters."

"We can figure that out another time, Seth. For now we need to know about this new enemy threat." BC said.

"Like I said I'll tell you all as this now affects you all just as much as me." Seth said, "The enemy we just fought are known as the Bacterians. They are an evil cosmic force that come from the Planet Bacterion, hell bent on wiping out life in the galaxy and have been a major enemy of Gradius for years. Like their name suggests they infect whatever they come in contact with and turn them to their side to use against their enemies. And it's also with that same ability that they create organic fortresses to expand their empire."

That got some of the crew to become sickened or disgusted. An enemy that is organic and acts like bacteria. Yeah, definitely sickening.

Seth continued, "Gradius has beaten them numerous times thanks to the efforts of great Gradius pilots and the Vic Viper, their main space fighter, Planet Latis and their Lord British space fighter, all the way to the three man team involved in what was called Operation Solar Assault. But even with those defeats the Bacterians are relentless as they keep coming back and with more and more sinister ways to destroy Gradius and then every other form of life in the galaxy."

"They are even more sinister than the Harvesters." Magno said, "Although there's still the question of why the Bacterians were attacking the Harvesters."

"Muscling in on territory I guess. Odds are there's an organic fortress somewhere where more Bacterians are being made and deployed." Seth deduced. "Still their presence here complicates things for us and even the Harvesters as we're now in a three way conflict."

"Which means that we'll be needing you to train our pilots to combat these Bacterians since you're more experienced in fighting them out of everyone here."

"Hold up…You want me to train the other pilots?"

BC spoke up, "We already have to contend with the Harvesters and now with the addition of these Bacterians our pilots will be hard pressed with fighting them too especially with no knowledge of them. The only reason why that battle didn't get bad was because they mostly focused on you which reduced the heat on them. However, since the Bacterians now see us as enemies just as much as the Harvesters our pilots will need to be prepared to deal with them and your experience in fighting them would be helpful to all of us."

Seth face palmed and sighed, "You know that you're asking a lot from me, right? I'm a pilot…not a teacher."

"Can't you be both then?" Magno asked.

Seth closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening them and answering, "Honestly I'd rather tell you to leave the Bacterians to me to handle but I have a feeling you'd be against that."

"Obviously." Magno deadpanned, "While I have no doubts about your piloting skills Seth, as your captain I can't risk having you fighting that enemy by yourself. The last thing we need is a situation similar to what happened to Meia some months ago or even worse."

Seth flinched at that. Him ending up just like Meia or worse dead. Not something he'd want happening anytime soon.

"Alright Captain you've made your point!" he sighed, "Given the situation we're in, I'll give training the teams a shot, though I'm not sure I can train all the Dread pilots and Hibiki in fighting the Bacterians in crunch time."

"What do you mean?" BC asked.

"Another Bacterian attack force is on their way right now since we're now threats to them."

"And you know this because?"

"Something we Gradians acquired thanks to our many battles with the Bacterians. We can tell when they're going to show up and prepare accordingly."

"And when do you think they'll arrive?" Magno asked.

"I'd say in half an hour, which isn't enough for training a whole squadron." Seth answered.

"Well I'm not having you engage the Bacterians by yourself again Seth." Magno said, "You'll need people watching your back for that. Speaking of which…have you decided yet?"

"About being a team leader and Meia's second in command? Yes I've had some time to think about it and…well…I've decided to accept the position. But only out of the necessity of the situation." Seth said. "Anyways I'll brief the others about the Bacterians."

Magno smiled at him, "I'm glad to hear that Seth. I'll inform Meia of your decision and have your new teammates meet you in the hangar at once."

"You do that while I go see my new team." With that Seth left the bridge for the hangar.

"Are you sure he'll be able to handle being a leader Captain?" BC asked skeptically.

"What? Not confident in Seth's abilities?" Magno asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not worried about Seth's abilities. Far from it." BC replied, "I'm more worried about how he'll deal with his new team, some of them had family and friends who were part of the Red Vixens Squadron and for them to take orders from the very pilot who killed them would cause a lot of problems."

"Seth was just as skeptical about that too and he's still agreed to do this. I have faith that he'll pull through for us."

"I hope you're right about that captain."

…

Seth arrived in the hangar where he spotted the engineering crew performing repairs to the dreads, Hibiki checking on his Vanguard, Meia, Dita, Jura and Barnette sitting on some boxes and four other young women standing around the Alpinia. Meia looked up and noticed Seth walking towards them.

"I take it you got informed by the captain of my decision." Seth stated.

"Yes, the captain informed me a few minutes ago. Though in all honesty I never thought you'd accept the position." Meia replied.

"I was thinking of turning it down but I saw the necessity of it and decided to jump on it." Seth said, "My question is was it your idea to begin with Meia?"

"No. Actually it was the captain's. It made sense to me too when she suggested it." Meia answered, "We were only worried about whether you'll accept it or not considering the last time you were part of my squad."

"No offence Meia but you were a bitch at the time."

"None taken and I remember having an epiphany about it. Though to be honest you were annoying at that time too."

"Whatever…Anyways that's water under the bridge now." Seth motioned towards the women who were gazing up at his space fighter. "So those four goggling at the Alpinia are my new subordinates right?"

"Yes they are and they're part of the new G-Team."

"Really? G-Team?"

"The pun wasn't intentional. Anyways aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

"You already know the answer to that."

Seth walked up behind the four women and asked, "So you four are my new teammates?" That startled the four women and got them turning around to see Meia with the Gradian before nervously standing at attention.

"Yes Sir." One of them said. She had green eyes, black hair with pigtails and tan skin. She stood at 5'8" in height and had a moderate bust. She was wearing a light blue flight suit.

"At ease. I'm not no longer in the military anyways. So shall we get the introductions out of the way?" Seth chuckled, "You all already know me anyways but I'll just say it again as a reminder, I'm Seth Reager, a Gradian and a mercenary pilot who's now your new team leader. You're next." He pointed at the woman who replied to him earlier.

"My name is Annette Davis. I was a dread pilot under Meia's command before I was transferred to yours. I…look forward to working with you." She said.

"Same here Annette." Seth said with a smile, "Next."

The girl beside Annette had brunette hair with a pony tail hanging from the back. She had blue eyes, light skin, a large bust and stood at 5'10" in height. She wore a black flight suit with red stripes. She looked at Seth confidently.

"Name's Monica De la Cruz. I was under Jura's command on the B-team before being transferred to your team. It's an honor to work with someone as skilled as you." She said.

"Nice to meet you too Monica. Looking forward to seeing what you can do." Seth smiled. "Next."

The third girl had short white hair with a single bang on the left side of her face that covered one half of it with the only visible eye being brown in color. She had brown skin, stood at 5'9", had a decent bust and wore a white flight suit.

"Lisa Silva. I was originally assigned to the D-team before being assigned to this unit." She said in a neutral tone. Seth sighed at that. "Don't get me wrong sir. I respect you as a pilot, just don't trust you that much considering who you are and your reputation." Lisa quickly added.

"At least you're honest about it Lisa. As long as you follow orders we won't have any problems." Seth stated and turned to the last woman. "Next."

The last pilot glared at Seth and tightened her fists in anger. She had red hair with black streaks in it which ended in a long tail with bangs on both sides of her face and red eyes. She had tan skin, stood at 5'10", had a medium sized bust and she wore a red flight suit. Seth noticed this and knew that this person clearly hated him but with the Bacterians on their way he couldn't afford to waste time. "Any moment now as we don't got all day."

Meia gave the angry pilot a look that told her to deal with it. The pilot sighed and obeyed.

"My name is Akira Mishima. I was a member of Barnette's C-Team before being assigned to this team, _Mejerian Butcher_." She said with venom.

"Mishima huh? So one of you _bitches_ still lives…" Seth replied with just as much disdain. "I don't have time to deal with your bullshit, just follow my orders and we'll have no problems. However if you make an attempt on my life I'll send you on a one way trip to where your sisters are…in hell."

"Is that a threat?!"

"No, it's a promise."

There was tense silence in the hangar for a while as everyone looked at Seth and Akira. Meia decided to defuse the situation before it escalated.

"Okay that's enough! Introductions are over, no need for the hostility now."

"If he wasn't on this ship there wouldn't be any hostility." Akira sneered.

"And maybe you should have died along with those pathetic sisters of yours. At least I won't have to deal with your bull shit." Seth countered.

"That's enough you two!" Meia yelled.

Akira gritted her teeth and turned away from Seth.

"Sorry about Akira. As you know her older sisters were members of the Red Vixens Squadron and like them she's very firm believer of Mejere's views against men." Annette apologized.

"I already know about that. You all saw them in that video right? So don't be surprised about why I have no qualms about killing her if she doesn't watch herself." Seth said, "Anyways I'll be quick on this. Meia, I'm supposed to brief you all about the enemy we fought against earlier. Gather everyone around quickly as the enemy's on their way towards us." Seth said to Meia who did just that and got everyone to gather round.

"What's going on Meia?" Barnette asked.

"I'm going to quickly brief you all on the enemy we fought earlier as they are coming back to fight us again." Seth answered instead.

"You mean those freaky guys?!" Hibiki asked.

"Yes. They are called the Bacterians and yes, I was thinking the same as you all when they told us about them at the academy." Seth said as he saw the deadpanned looks on everyone's faces. "Anyways they're a ruthless and persistent bunch of monsters who would stop at nothing to destroy all life in the galaxy and the only reason they've yet to do so is because of my planet wiping the floor with them multiple times. In short they are worse than the Harvesters and now that they see us as enemies just as much as the Harvesters we're now in a three-way war. The captain's asked me to train you all in battling the Bacterians since I'm experienced in fighting them, but right now I don't have the time for that…" The ship alarms went off before he could finish. "…because they are here."

…

The Nirvana teams were out in space to greet the arrived Bacterian squadron that had been sent to annihilate them and the Gradian too. Their numbers were larger than the initial group they tangoed with and there was a new ship that is bigger than the others and armed with more firepower and had a large core at the center.

"_That big guy looks like he could do some serious damage." _Bart said on the comms.

"Got it! Thanks Captain Fucking Obvious!" Seth deadpanned, eliciting some laughs from his teammates, even making Akira smirk.

"_Hey!"_

"Enough with the jokes everyone. Team leaders check your formations. We'll attack on my signal." Meia ordered.

Four dreads flew into formation behind the Alpinia which Seth guessed were his team.

"Humph! They don't look like much." Akira scoffed when she saw the enemy formation.

"Keep thinking that if you want to die so badly." Seth said coldly, "These bastards will tear you apart without remorse if you let your guard down so if you don't want to end up dead don't underestimate them."

Akira grumbled incoherently but otherwise kept her mouth shut.

"Anyways today's our first battle as a team together. For now just stick close and follow my orders for now. You'll be getting a crash course on fighting Bacterians. Got that?"

Seth received a "Yes Sir!" from his team except Akira who spoke in an annoyed tone, which he ignored.

Once Meia gave the go code and the battle began.

Immediately Seth and his team engaged a group of Bacterians and wasted no time shooting them down.

Of course once again the Bacterians decided to focus most of their forces on the Alpinia and the dreads accompanying it. A dumb move on their part as it allowed the other dread teams to pick them off easily. The same could be said for Seth's team as since the enemy was too focused on the Gradian his new subordinates who were flying cover around him were able to pick them off too while Seth did major damage with his Scatter Psycom missiles and Options Lockdown, which Seth had come to call the Alpinia's new special abilities.

Annette, Monica and Lisa were in awe of the Alpinia's devastating abilities as this is the first time they had seen them. Sure they had known about the Gradius ships before but seeing them with their own eyes was a different experience. Akira however was gritting her teeth in anger as she saw the very same weapons that Seth had used in killing her sisters and the Red Vixens Squadron all those years ago, though not on this scale. In fact it was like watching that disastrous battle again. She wanted to shoot him down right now and get revenge for her sisters but it was as if those phantoms supporting the Alpinia were watching her as if they sensed her intent. So she dropped the idea of revenge for now.

The frontline Bacterian units were going down easily as their flawed swarming of the Alpinia was making things easy for the Dread teams and Vanguard to pick them apart. Not to mention Seth's team were providing cover support for him and hitting any enemy ship that tried to get close.

"This is like shooting fish in a barrel!" Lisa said.

"More like a shooting gallery." Annette deadpanned.

"Like I said earlier they're not that special. I don't know what that man was talking about." Akira scoffed.

"The only reason why you're having an easier time with them is because they're so obsessed with killing me that they've thrown logic out the window. If not you guys would be going through hell right now." Seth warned, "So don't get too cocky."

Soon all that was left was the large warship with the core. One that Seth recognized instantly: The Rotating Launcher. However this one seemed different.

'_Another model huh? Too bad it's going to the scrap heap like the others.' _Seth sighed.

Unlike the other units, the Rotating Launcher Mark 2 began its attack, firing lasers while rotating and moving up and down, and causing havoc for the dread and Seth's team as they had to dodge the erratic attacks, though Seth had an easier time dodging as he'd already dealt with this before.

"AAHH! What the hell?!" Akira yelled as she barely dodged some lasers.

"That was a little too close for comfort." Monica added.

"What did I tell you?" Seth said smugly.

"Please tell us you know how to take this one out?" Jura asked.

"This one's called Rotating Launcher. It's a variant of the Big Core warships of the Bacterian forces. The weakness of this enemy is the main core but it's protected by barriers around it. So shoot off the barriers and then go nuts on the core." Seth explained.

"That sounds simple enough." Hibiki said.

So everyone focused fire on the barriers of the large ship while having to dodge a storm of lasers from its guns. Not long the barriers were destroyed and the team went crazy blasting away at the core. What they did not expect was for the barriers to regenerate quickly, Seth however understood why.

"The barriers regenerate?!" Jura yelled in annoyance.

'_So they made the barriers regenerate quickly so as to make up for that flaw.' _Seth deduced. _'That complicates things.'_

The Rotating Launcher retaliated with another barrage of laser fire forcing the pilots to dodge again.

"Did this thing do that when you took it on the last time?" Meia asked.

"No. This is obviously another variant with that mechanism to cover for its weakness." Seth replied.

"At this rate we'll run out of ammo before we kill this thing!" Barnette stated.

"Hey _leader, _since you've fought this enemy before don't you have a faster way to kill it?" Akira deadpanned.

"Everyone keep that one busy! I already know of a way to take it out instantly." Meia ordered.

"You heard her! Keep its attention on us!" Seth yelled. _'If my guess is correct then I'd say that she and Hibiki are about to put an exclamation point on this.'_

The Alpinia and the other dreads kept the attention of the Rotating Launcher and continued attacking the barriers and dodging return fire. When they'd destroyed the barriers Vandread Meia came on the scene.

"Everyone out of the way! We're going to take it out in one shot!" Hibiki yelled out as Vandread Meia charged up its attack.

Everyone got out of the way immediately before Vandread Meia unleashed its high speed attack, piercing right through the exposed core and out of the Rotating Launcher. That put an end to the battle as the large warship exploded and was no more.

'_Well that put the exclamation point alright.' _Seth thought, _'Still the presence of the Bacterians here still leaves a lot of questions.'_

With the battle over everyone returned to the ship.

…

After the battle, Seth sat in the cafeteria drinking water as he thought about his new team that he was now going to lead.

The team he had wasn't that bad. Annette and Monica were level headed, not letting their planets' past history or Mejerian bigotry to get in the way and were willing to work with him. Lisa was still neutral as she still wanted more to go on before she could trust the Gradian but she knew when to put personal business aside to get the job done. However Akira was the one that Seth was bothered about as she's the younger sister of Amine and Reina Mishima, both pilots in the Red Vixens Squadrons and the ones who were in that accursed video that signed the squadron and their death warrants as they were the ones who killed his adoptive parents and made the threat to kill him next.

After they had sent him that video, Seth had asked Miranda to gather Intel on those two women which she did reluctantly as she had an idea of what he was planning but she knew that his one track mind wouldn't be deterred from what he wanted to do. So when the operation began he wasted no time going right for the Red Vixens and the rest is history.

Now he has their younger sister to deal with. Just his luck…

He stopped his thinking about his team and went on to the next upgrade he discovered to the Alpinia, the Swarm Psycom missiles. Like the regular Psycom missiles they have homing abilities but since they are smaller they do less damage, however because of their large numbers they can still inflict a lot of damage. Seth did his own deduction, so far for the Alpinia the Paksis upgraded the shields, engines and systems, strengthened the twin lasers, and added the Swarm Psycom missiles and Options Lockdown. The only thing that hadn't been upgraded yet was the Mind Blast double weapon. Seth also noticed that the Options seemed to now have minds of their own for some odd reason. Well that was a bit too complicated for him to understand so he didn't think too much on it.

However what bothered Seth the most was the appearance of the Bacterians in this area and them attacking the Harvesters. And now he and Magno's crew were now in a three-way war. But the real question was why the Bacterians were after the Harvesters. Something told the Gradian that the answer was not going to come for a while and when it did it would be something big.

* * *

**Chapter XIV End.**

**Read &amp; Review. Flames would be ignored.**


	15. Confrontations

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. Leave it at that!**

**Chapter XV: Confrontation**

* * *

Seth stood in the shower as the warm water washed all over him. The weeks have been hectic for him as he'd balanced keeping himself sharp, maintaining his fighter and training his new team, Hibiki and the Dread Squadron in battling the Bacterians. The presence of Gradius' mortal enemy was also another issue that had been on his mind.

'_Seriously what are they doing here and why are they attacking the Harvesters?' _Seth thought, _'Sure they attacked us because of my presence but still what is their issue with the Harvesters? Apart from looking like muscling in on territory I still don't get what their deal is.'_

Seth turned off the shower and was out in his towel. After freshening up he left his room in a tight black body suit. One that the Reagers made for him to congratulate him when he enrolled in the Gradius Academy. It also had the insignia for the Alpinia on the both sleeves which Seth commissioned a neutral designer to do. On the back of the suit is also another insignia but that was for the Solar Assault Team, which consisted of the three logos for the three ships; Vic Viper, Lord British and Alpinia. In other words this was the flight suit he wore for that important mission.

'_Whatever. No point thinking too much about why they are in this system. For now I'll just have to make sure everyone here is capable of combating them, especially my new team…'_

Speaking of his new team, Seth had been spending more time with his teammates getting to know them and training with them too when he wasn't training the others. Annette and Monica had gotten comfortable being around him and grown to respect the Gradian. Lisa was still neutral with him but she respected him nonetheless and she talked with him from time to time. Akira however was a pain in the ass to Seth. She butted heads with him at every moment and had tried to get on his last nerves. Of course he just ignored her those time which only seemed to make her still continue to be a bitch which had also gotten herself in trouble with Meia and Magno too. Seth had also had to double his medication to keep his blood pressure from going through the roof due to being close to losing his temper on multiple occasions.

…

"Hey...May I ask you something?" Bart asked Magno as he entered the doors leading into the bridge.

"Hm? Oh sure. What do you need?" The captain asked, spinning around in her chair towards the helmsman.

"How come Seth gets such a nice room, and the rest of us men get the prison?" The helmsman grumbled, "I barely find that fair!"

"It's because he's not from Tarak like yourself and the rest..." Magno answered, "Sure he's a male, but that doesn't make him one of you, so he's easier to trust."

"But doesn't your planet and his own have bad blood between each other?" Bart asked.

"It's true that our planets don't get along. The same goes for yours, only that it's minor." Magno answered. "Even with all that Seth's saved all our asses many times already when he could have left us all to die."

"I have saved you guys as well! So have Hibiki and Duero!" Bart complained, "It's still hardly fair!"

"It still not just that, Bart. It's a matter of trust. Give us some more time. Maybe we'll give you extra tissues for crying while we're at it." Magno deadpanned. The women on the bridge chuckled as the man muttered to himself angrily as he walked out the door.

"Do you really still not trust the men?" BC asked, approaching Magno's side, "They have proved themselves already. It would seem fair enough to give them better hospitality..."

"The only one who's complaining about it is Bart." Magno yawned, "The other men haven't talked to me about it at all. I'm guessing he's probably just spoiled. I actually think that Hibiki likes it in there, though farther away from Dita." Magno laughed.

"True." Buzam snickered, "So I've noticed that Seth has been feeling more at home with us. He's really taking his new roles as a team leader and Meia's second in command seriously. Not to mention training them all in fighting Gradius' mortal enemy, The Bacterians."

"Well that is a good thing. He's become more open around us even when he could kill us all instead." Magno smiled, "While it's good that he's healing olds wounds, however, there's still the stigma of him being the Mejerian Butcher, a man who's the enemy of every woman on Mejere and also wanted on his home planet."

"True. There are still a few crew members that are not comfortable around him, though most of them would rather keep their distance than antagonize him." BC stated, "Then there's Akira who hates him because of his role in Operation Reprisal."

"Where she lost her sisters thanks to Seth himself even though they brought it on themselves when they killed his adopted parents." Magno added. "And now they're in the same team and have already butted heads with each other a few times and I've had to punish her too. Hopefully it doesn't escalate."

…

Akira was in a foul mood as she went ballistic on the heavy bag that her teammate Monica was holding in place. Both were in their workout clothes which consisted of tank tops and spandex shorts. Annette and Lisa were sparring not that far from them. As for why Akira was in her mood, the reason was…Seth Reager aka The Mejerian Butcher. The one who had killed her older sisters.

Back on Mejere, she and her two older sisters were part of the Mishima family. They were expectations from their family members and they met those expectations. Akira's two older sisters made the family proud when they enlisted in Mejerian military and then joined the famed Red Vixen Dread Squadron. Akira too wanted to follow their footsteps and earn her way into such a prestigious unit.

Then it happened. Gradius diplomats arrived at Mejere for talks. However when they saw that the group consisted of men and women, Mejere killed the diplomats as a way to say screw you to Gradius. Akira's sisters especially took pleasure in torturing and killing a couple who they saw had a child and they told them that the boy was going to join them. Akira was unaware of their actions though. Unfortunately Mejere's actions pissed off Gradius and they replied with brute force of their own by sending a strike team to attack them.

Mejere thought that they could handle this strike team with their own pilots but that turned into a disaster as the Gradius strike team decimated their squadrons and with ease. Though it was one pilot that caused the most damage as he shot down the whole Red Vixen Squadron by himself. Akira's sisters were the last to be killed by that pilot. Akira could only watch as this single pilot sadistically toyed with her sisters before he blasted them to flaming pieces. She could still remember the fighter that the pilot flew and it was the very same one Seth was flying. It was also that day that the Gradius pilot got the name "The Mejerian Butcher".

After that disaster, Akira mourned for her sisters and swore to get revenge on their killer. She earned her way into the ranks and became a dread pilot in order to find her sisters' killer. That went nowhere as her superiors refused to let her go after the Gradius pilot. She joined Magno's pirate crew as she too got tired of the antics of her fellow women and also being denied her chance of getting revenge.

Like Barnette and some of the crew Akira had her pride as a woman of Mejere and didn't like the idea of men being on the ship. Especially when one of them is the Mejerian Butcher himself. Worse she's now a subordinate of his and on the same team! Then he had the nerve to show a video that portrayed her sisters as monsters because they killed his parents who were the same couple that were part of Gradius' diplomatic envoy. Lies! She called Seth a liar to his face and said that he made up that video to smear her sisters' names. Then Seth told her, _"Your sisters recorded that very same video and had it sent to me and saying that they were coming for me next! Well too bad that I came after them instead. What goes around comes around."_

Ever since then the two had been at each other's throats with Akira trying to undermine Seth's authority as much as possible only to get punished by Seth, Meia and Magno on different occasions. No way in hell was she going to get along with that murderer.

Right now Akira seethed, panted, and grunted as she sent the heavy bag and the woman supporting it flying. Fortunately for her she wasn't injured.

"Damn girl! You're really laying the smack down on the bag. What's gotten into you?" Monica groaned as she tried to get up from the mat.

"I'm just in a fouler mood than usual." Akira replied as she helped Monica up.

"You should take a break Akira. You've been at it for four hours straight." Annette said as she and Lisa sat down on the bench after finishing their own spar.

"Not till I clear my head." Akira replied, "Besides I wish that that bag was someone else though. Someone I'd love to pound into the ground."

"Does that someone happen to be Seth Reager?" Lisa deadpanned.

"D-Damn right it is! He's been pissing me off beyond belief!" Akira gritted her teeth as she wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Lisa sighed at her teammate. "And all that you've done is get yourself into trouble with him, Meia and the captain for butting heads with him."

"What's your point?! There's no way in hell I'll accept that murderer as a crew mate or my superior officer." Akira snapped.

"Your sisters provoked him by sending that video of them killing his parents." Lisa stated, "You saw it didn't you? They took pleasure in what they did and it scarred him for life."

"Maybe it's because his parents deserved it! They shouldn't have come to Mejere in the first place to spout their rubbish." Akira replied before she turned to the other women who were also training in the gym and had also witnessed her display. "Anyone want to have a go with me?" The women politely turned her down in fear and nervousness.

"I will."

Everyone in the gym turned around at the sound of the male voice and they saw the very same person Akira had been talking about. And he was pissed off.

"Speak of the devil." Annette muttered, "Looks like he heard you too."

"Oh I'm going to enjoy this." Akira grinned as she cracked her knuckles as Seth walked onto the mat while removing his gloves.

"Akira's going her get her ass kicked." Monica whispered to Annette.

"Looks like it. Didn't she see what he did to Rabat?" Annette whispered back.

Lisa had heard their whispering and added her input. "She did but it looks like she doesn't even care."

…

Meia had been looking around for Seth Reager as she wanted to have a word with him about something. She was about to walk past the gym when she heard a commotion coming from it. Curious, she went to check it out and saw a large crowd in there.

"What's going on?" She asked, walking into the gym.

"It's Akira...!" One of the crew exclaimed, "And Seth!"

"What?!" Meia exclaimed, "They're at it again?!" She pushed her way through the crowd and got to the front where she saw an angry Seth standing in front of a barely standing Akira.

_**Fifteen minutes earlier…**_

Seth had been on his way to the gym, looking to clear his thoughts about the whole situation with the Harvesters and Bacterians. When he walked in he was hearing Akira's rant about him. Initially he was going to just ignore her but that changed when he heard her say that his parents deserved to die for coming to Mejere. Seth obviously didn't take that well and decided to make her pay for running her mouth.

"I will." He said as he walked towards the dead woman walking while removing his gloves.

"Oh I'm going to enjoy this." Akira grinned as she cracked her knuckles.

"Same here." Seth fired back.

Akira rushed towards Seth at top speed. She threw a punch and got nothing but a vicious backhand for her trouble dropping her to the mat. Before she could react a hand came on her throat and forcefully lifted her up.

"Get up bitch! This is only the beginning." Seth said as he shoved her away from him.

After recovering Akira immediately charged at Seth once more throwing kicks but hitting nothing but air. Seth then caught a kick and threw Akira down to the mat. Akira quickly sprung back up and once more rushed forward at Seth and swung wildly at him but only kept hitting air. Seth slipped a strike and landed a knee to Akira's liver dropping her on all fours. Barely regaining her wits Akira stood up only to get Spartan kicked back down.

Seth lets her get up this time. Akira charged in and this time managed to land a punch on his face. Everyone gasped when her fist impacted with his face, thinking he was out on his feet but that changed when Akira saw Seth smirk and cracked her with a haymaker sending her flying before she landed hard on her back.

"By the way, that one was free." Seth said as he cracked his neck.

_**Present time…**_

Akira was struggled to stand as she glared at the Gradian in front of her. She had been missing everything she threw at Seth and even when she landed something it was only because he let her and she herself was fatigued and hurting all over from the few attacks he landed on her.

She had seen Seth beat the stuffing out of Rabat back then but she shrugged it off as him able to beat a man and never thought he'd be able to fight a woman at all. Well she's seeing how wrong she is now and she hates it. She roared and charged at Seth again throwing a wild haymaker but then found herself slumping and looking down to see a fist on her stomach. She then felt Seth's hand around her throat and lifted up to eye level with him.

"Arrogant and pathetic. Those are your traits bitch. Just like your sisters." Seth said as he hit her with a barrage of punches. "You say that my parents deserved to die because they came to your planet, well then I'd say the same about your sisters for murdering them." He then choke slammed her to the mat, taking the air out from her lungs as her back came into contact with the ground. Standing over her Seth suddenly drew out his kukri from a secret holster which got the crowd wide eyed and Meia along with the rest of G-Team rushing towards him. Akira saw Seth coming down with his kukri and she too stared in fear.

'_He's going to kill me. He's really going to kill me.' _She thought as she watched the blade come down and heard screams of terror from the crowd. However death never came for her as she saw the kukri stab the floor beside her head. She looked at the blank face of Seth in confusion. The same could be said for Meia, Annette, Monica and Lisa while the crowd were sighing in relief.

"Why?" Akira managed to ask.

"To prove a point." Seth answered cryptically before removing the kukri from the floor and holstering it. "As for what that point is…figure it out yourself."

Akira and everyone else sweat dropped at his cryptic statement.

Seth sighed, "I'm done here. When you've figured it out come find me." And without another word, he walked out towards the exit as the crowd parted out of his way and he walked out of the gym.

…

"I spoke too soon." Magno sighed.

"You don't say." BC deadpanned, "Still it's a good thing he didn't kill her. That would have been disastrous."

Magno nodded in agreement. Both of them had seen the one sided fight between Seth and Akira and like the others they thought the Gradian was going to kill Akira and were relieved when he didn't.

"While he was cryptic at the end I agree that Akira needed this wakeup call." Magno said, "Now the ball is in her court."

…

"Seth, I hope you're not overdosing on your medicine." Duero stated as he saw the Gradian swallow another pair of red capsules and washed them down with water.

"No. In fact I think I remember a certain doctor recommending that I double my medication too because of my blood pressure getting higher and higher since the past two weeks." Seth deadpanned as he laid on one of the beds in the med bay. "You can thank Akira Mishima for that by the way."

"The one you fought and nearly killed today?" Duero asked.

"I see that word's gotten round quickly." Seth said.

"Your fight with Miss Mishima has been spreading around the ship with some of the women demanding for you to be confined in the brig for the rest of the journey." Duero said.

"Hmph! Typical Mejerian thinking at its worst." Seth waved off as he relaxed on the bed. "The girl has been on my case for weeks trying to undermine and antagonize me whenever I'm training my team or the whole squadron. Initially I just ignored her so as to keep the training going but that seemed to encourage her to be a mega bitch. Then she decided to cross the line and bring my parents into this."

"Which led to you beating her in the fight and nearly killing her after."

"Exactly."

Duero sighed as he went back to focusing on the computer on his desk. "So how do you plan on keeping this from getting worse?"

"It all depends on everyone else on this ship. As long as no one attempts to piss me off anymore at all things will die down." Seth replied before yawning, "I'm taking a nap now. Wake me up when something interesting happens."

Unknown to the Gradian something interesting was going to happen.

…

"Captain. Sensors have picked up three ships trying to hail us." Amarone reported.

"Can you get a visual of the ships?" BC asked.

"Putting them on screen now."

The monitor showed up and displayed three different fighter ships which all had one thing in common. They reminded the crew of Seth's Alpinia. The first one ship is white with blue streaks, an orange cockpit and a unique twin-pronged fuselage. The second ship is also white in color but with red streaks instead and looked like an old world jet. The third ship also shared the same main color but with purple streaks and had forward swept wings and its tail attached backwards. These were Gradius ships and Magno and BC recognized the first two as Vic Viper and Lord British. The third one they had no idea of.

"Captain. Those are…" BC began.

"Gradius ships. Yes I know BC, and if I'm guessing right then they are here for Seth." Magno finished.

Seth jolted awake freaking out Paiway and slightly worrying Duero. For some reason the Gradian had a look of panic which quickly turned to anger as he stared at the wall ahead of him.

'_You got to be kidding me! They've actually caught up to me! Well I won't let them take me!" _Seth thought as he jumped off the bed and ran out of the med bay.

"What's with Seth?! He just got up and ran out like a bat out of hell?!" Paiway said in confusion.

Duero didn't answer the young nurse as he too had no idea about it.

…

Seth was running down the corridor at full speed to the hangar after he heard someone mention that there were some new pilots landing in the hangar; Gradians to be exact! The women and Bart got the hell out of his way after they saw the look of absolute rage on his face. No way in hell they were going to stand in front of this man!

Arriving in the hangar, Seth saw three space fighters land in the hangar and a large number of the crew gathered to see who the pilots were. Standing in the very front was Magno with BC and Gascogne on either side of her and next to them was Hibiki, Dita, Meia, Jura and Barnette. Seth also saw his team standing some distance away. Annette had noticed Seth arriving in the hangar and was startled by the look of anger on his face.

"Don't look now but Seth's here and he's not in a good mood." She whispered to her teammates. Monica, Lisa and Akira looked where Annette was facing and saw their angry team lead stomping towards the front of the crowd. Seth reached the front and stood beside Meia and she and the others also saw the angry look on his face.

He recognized the first two as the Vic Viper and Lord British of Gradius and Latis respectively. The third one was one he hadn't seen before. It was white with purple streaks on it, orange cockpit, forward swept wings and its tail attached on backwards. A new ship he thought. He watched as the canopies of the three ships opened and the three pilots climb out.

The pilots slowly approached the captain and BC before two of them stopped while the one at the centre in a blue and white flight suit stopped a few feet away from Magno.

She stood around 5'7", while the two behind her also stood at the 5'9" and 5'8" respectively, and based on their figures they were all females which surprised some of the crew that didn't know that much about Gradius. The pilots reached up to take off their helmet starting from the two behind the lead pilot.

The first woman had crimson red hair, brown eyes and tanned skin and she had a neutral expression on her face. The woman beside her was a brunette with her hair tied in a ponytail, green eyes and creamy skin. She looked unnerved being in front of this crowd of women who were looking at her with envy and she was also looking for someone in the room.

However it was when the lead pilot removed her helmet that Seth's blood pressure shot through the roof. She had medium blue hair, black eyes and pale skin. The woman saluted and introduced herself in a strong, formal tone that didn't sound unfriendly.

"My name is Naomi Veron and I am the leader of the Gradius Space Defence Task Force Team 208. Behind me are Cecilia Daley and Kara Lowell. I thank you for letting us aboard the ship and for your cooperation."

* * *

**Chapter XV End. **

**And with trouble to boot!**

**First Seth has to deal with the unruly team member Akira who still cannot stand being around the one who killed her older sisters and now**** Gradius has caught up to Seth. How will the ex-Gradius pilot, mercenary and member of the Nirvana crew deal with this?**

**Find out next chapter! **


	16. Unhappy Reunion

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. Leave it at that!**

**Chapter XVI: Unhappy Reunion**

* * *

The sight of two of the three women in front of him made Seth very angry. Those two he had his anger aimed at while the other person was someone he had no problem with.

Cecilia Daley is from Latis, an ally of Gradius and the home of the Lord British space fighter. Cecilia was his teammate during Operation Solar Assault and he was neutral with her most of the time. Still he talked with her and trusted her more than Naomi any day of the week.

As for Naomi Veron and Kara Lowell, those two were on his most hated/shit/to kill list. Naomi the spoilt brat and Kara the fucking traitorous skank!

"My name is Naomi Veron and I am the leader of the Gradius Space Defense Task Force team 208. Behind me are Cecilia Daley and Kara Lowell. I thank you for letting us aboard the ship and for your cooperation." Naomi said, saluting Magno.

Magno just stared at the young woman in front of her and then her companions. So this was Seth's brat of a sister that was also part of his suffering. Well she was polite right now but that could change very soon. The other crew members glared at Naomi and her companions though most of their anger was aimed at her. After hearing about Seth's morbid past they'd obviously did not want to see one of the people who made their crew member's life hell. Magno also hoped that Seth wasn't here since she had a bad feeling about…

"And a major bitch that should be rotting in hell with her just as shit parents!" Just great. The situation's going to hell already.

Everyone looked and saw Seth walking up to Naomi with his hands in his flight suit pockets. The look on his face was anything but friendly. Not surprising considering their past history.

Seth stopped in front of Naomi and glared while Naomi just stared back. There was silence between them for a few seconds before Naomi broke the silence. "It's been a long time, right brother?"

"CRRAACKK!"

Naomi stumbled back, holding her stomach before dropping to her knees. She looked up to see Seth with his left hand in a fist and with hatred in his eyes. "I definitely deserved that." She said painfully.

"You definitely deserve worse! You have a lot of guts showing your disgusting face here, spoilt brat!" Seth said venomously.

"Seth! You can't do that…" Kara began to say before a gunshot went off and she felt something scratch her cheek. She touched it and felt that it was bleeding.

"Shut the fuck up skank! Your fucking voice grates on my nerves!" Seth shouted with his handgun pointed in Kara's direction without looking at her. The crew were now surprised about Seth's reaction to the other woman. What did she do to earn his ire?

"Hey Cecilia. How's life been treating you?" Seth asked neutrally.

Cecilia shrugged and put her arms at the back of her head. "Not bad, Seth. Been doing okay ever since Operation Solar Assault. What of you?" she replied. "How has live outside of Gradius been?"

"Life's been great without Gradius and the _Verons_ suffocating me." Seth answered, "Mercenary life is fun and I even got to join a great crew here." Some of the Nirvana crew smirked in appreciation.

"I can see that Seth. I'm actually happy for you." Cecilia said sincerely as she looked at the crew.

"Thanks." Seth acknowledged.

'_At least there's one person that Seth doesn't have an issue with.' _Magno thought.

Seth holstered his sidearm and looked at the three Gradius pilots before he turned around and walked out of the hangar.

"Ugh…Okay…That went well…" Naomi said as she got back to her feet.

"You think?" Cecilia deadpanned. Kara meanwhile was still silent as she thought about the brief encounter with Seth. _'He still hates me.' _She thought sadly.

"Anyways." Magno began getting the Gradius pilots' attention, "You said that you wanted to talk right? We can do that elsewhere. Of course, you'll be relinquishing your weapons too." She then turned to BC and the security team, "Kindly escort our guests to the conference room, everyone else back to work. And Meia, please go find your second in command and bring him to the conference room too."

"Second in command?" Naomi asked.

"Yes. Seth is the second in command of our Dread Squadron. Something we found necessary considering his skills." Magno answered.

…

Seth and Meia arrived in the conference room where the captain and her second in command were on one side of the table with BC standing behind Magno and the three Gradians sat on the other side of the table. Not long after they'd sat down Seth and Meia arrived, with Seth just leaning against the wall while glaring at two of three Gradians that were seated. Meia sighed as she saw this before she stood beside Magno.

Kara glanced at Seth before quickly averting her eyes from Seth's cold glare. Cecilia just put her arms behind her head and relaxed on the comfortable chair. Naomi had her business look on as she stared at the captain.

"Now then, may I know what your business is here and why you've been looking for our ship?" Magno questioned.

"Our team is here for one person who happens to be in this very same room right now." Naomi answered while ignoring Seth intensified glare.

"Seth Reager." BC said.

"That's right. Seth Veron or Seth Reager as you know him is a wanted criminal on Gradius and it is this task force's mission to bring him back home to justice."

"And what are the charges?" Magno asked.

"Murders of Rugal Veron and Archibald Lawler, desertion from post and the theft of the Alpinia." Naomi said while Kara winced at Rugal's name.

"Really?! That's the best those fools back at Gradius could come up with? Talk about pathetic." Seth said sarcastically, "They seem to forget that Rugal and Archibald were traitors who sold Gradius out to the enemy, not to mention they orchestrated my false imprisonment by manipulating you arrogant morons."

"That's a lie!" Kara raised her voice in denial and stood up, "There's no way Rugal-" Anything else she wanted to say went dead due to a glare from Seth that made her shut up and sit back down.

"As I was saying before the stupid skank interrupted…" Seth continued making said person cringe and the Mejerian women to look confused. "Personal history…Anyways as for those two fools, I just did what your stupid government didn't have the guts to do. Desertion? Sorry but I wasn't well liked on Gradius even after being cleared of those crimes and the people there would sooner hang me by my guts than tolerate my presence so I left. Stealing the Alpinia? Sorry but those shitheads gave me the Alpinia, happily if I may add as they'd sooner slit their throats than let me anywhere near your precious Vic Viper."

"That isn't true Seth. You were treated better when it was proven that you were innocent all that time." Naomi argued, "You're just still bitter about how they treated you back then."

"This coming from one of the people who started it all." Seth countered making Naomi cringe, "Or have you not forgotten how much of a spoilt brat you were back? Or your pathetic parents who never kept you in check but instead encouraged your shitty attitude?" When he got no answer he scoffed. "Of course you haven't."

"We're getting off track here." Magno cut in, "I want to know how you tracked Seth down here?"

"We got an anonymous tip from someone who had seen Seth on this very ship and same person told us exactly which system your ship would be in." Naomi answered.

"Does that person happen to be Rabat?" Seth asked. Naomi and Kara went quiet immediately with wide eyes while Cecilia gave them a deadpanned look. That was all he needed to know. "Based on your reactions I'd take that as a yes." Magno, BC and Meia became angry when they heard that.

"Rabat led you here?!" Meia asked in anger.

"Yeah he did." Cecilia spoke up while ignoring the glare Naomi gave her, "We found him at some outpost…more like he approached us after he saw us questioning people about Seth and he told us he had some juicy info we'd love to get our hands on which led us here, though in all honesty he was very suspicious too."

"Cecilia! That is confidential information you're giving them!" Naomi snapped.

"As if! That guy is a shifty bastard as far as I'm concerned. I knew he was hiding something from the get go when we met him and based on how pissed off Seth and these people here are, I'd say that I'm on point." Cecilia argued.

"Right on Cecilia. At least you're more street wise." Seth grinned before he turned serious, "We had a run in with the bastard Rabat last year and he tried to gather data on us for his masters known as the Harvesters. The same bastards that attacked Gradius eight years ago."

The three Gradians were shocked at that. "You mean Rabat works for the enemy?!" Naomi exclaimed.

Magno continued from there. "Yes he does and it was thanks to Seth who already crossed paths with him that we were able to prevent that bastard from getting anything useful for his masters!"

BC slid a data pad across to Naomi. "Your planet's not the only one that was hit by the Harvesters but you're one of the few that had been able to fend them off. Rabat helped those monsters by sabotaging many planets' defenses while posing as a trader. He also had inside men that he paid to help him with getting him sensitive security information. Your cousin Rugal being one of them."

Naomi looked dumbfounded at the information on the data pad before she slid it to Kara. She read it too and just slid it to Cecilia while she covered her face with both hands. The Latis pilot read it and had a serious expression which turned into a glare aimed at Naomi. "Wow, way to go Naomi. Thanks to you that bastard's out there doing this same crap again!"

Seth just face palmed and sighed while trying to keep his anger in check. "Really?! You let that bastard go and also took his word!? And here I thought that you couldn't get any more pathetic!"

"It's not like we knew who he was or that he was involved in the Gradius attack!" Naomi argued.

"I told Naomi that he was not to be trusted but she's so adamant in finding you and dragging you back to Gradius that she's willing to accept any tip that would led her to you." Cecilia said.

"I think I've heard enough about Gradius' incompetence." Seth said with disgust before he pushed off the wall and walked out of the conference room. There was silence for a few minutes before someone decided to break it.

"Captain Magno…" Naomi began while steeling herself, "…It'll be in your best interest to surrender Seth into our custody."

"And why should I give up a member of my crew?" Magno inquired.

"He's a citizen of Gradius and also a volatile and dangerous criminal. Not to mention he's an enemy of your people or don't you know of the name he was given?"

"The Mejerian Butcher. Yes, I know about that name."

"If you do then why did you take such a dangerous individual and make him a member of your crew? Kara asked.

"Because he chose to. Seth could have left us anytime he wanted and we wouldn't have held it against him but he did so. Initially as a contracted mercenary but he eventually began to enjoy being around us and instead became a full on crew member." BC said.

"Seth helped us even when he had every reason not to. Even when some of us did not want such help." Meia added, "If not for him some of us wouldn't be alive right now, like me for example."

"He also defended one of my crew members, a male mind you from Tarak from that scum Rabat, nearly killed the bastard too. It was because of me that Seth didn't kill him. The man has enough blood on his hands and I don't think he needs anymore." Magno said, "Also when the Bacterians, the very enemy you fight showed up, he helped defend us from them since we hadn't fought such enemies before." That got the three pilots attention.

"You fought the Bacterians?!" Cecilia asked. Not many planets or people could fight against the cosmic enemy of Gradius and even more surprising was that a ragtag crew of men and women managed to survive against them.

"Yes, we did. They were actually fighting a Harvester squadron and after they destroyed them they came right at us after." BC explained.

"And now Seth's been training our pilots in fighting them too." Meia said, "And he's also the second in command of the Dread Squadron led by me." Cecilia giggled making Meia look at her. "And what's so funny Cecilia?"

"Seth taking orders from someone. That I'd pay to see since he never respected authority back in Gradius. Especially during Operation Solar Assault where he snubbed Naomi throughout since she was the team leader."

"Well he threw a data pad in my face when I tried to order him around…" Meia said in embarrassment, "And yelled at me and insulted me too. Nearly stabbed me too."

"Not surprising. Naomi here nearly got shot when she tried the same thing. It's because of me that she's not six feet under or space dust yet." Cecilia said.

"I was made the team leader for that operation and I was doing my job as one." Naomi defended.

"Even though you knew that he hated your guts?" Cecilia deadpanned.

"Ugh! You have a point there." Naomi cringed.

"As entertaining it is to hear more of your past relationship with Seth, I'll have to answer your last request concerning Seth and my answer is no." Magno said.

Kara gasped, "But he's a dangerous person and-"

"I've made my decision! Don't push your luck young lady!" Magno shouted. However Kara was still looked to press the issue.

"Kara stand down!" Naomi commanded.

"But Naomi they're-"

"I said STAND DOWN! Magno's the captain of this ship and she has made her decision! So don't push it!"

"She's right Kara! Don't press any further." Cecilia added, "Unless you want to end up in trouble."

Kara reluctantly held her peace as she didn't like the situation. These space pirates were harboring a criminal, the very one she once loved who then killed her boyfriend Rugal. And now they're getting in their way of bringing him to justice.

"So what next now?" Cecilia asked.

"I'm sure that you three are tired from your search for our home, so we'll let you stay here to relax for some time while under watch of course." Magno said, "After that you leave and never return here again nor do you tell your superiors about where Seth is."

Naomi narrowed her eyes as she didn't like that. They'd finally found her brother but he was now under the protection of Magno's space pirates and was tight with them apparently. This just further complicated their mission. Still she knew better than to push her luck…for now.

"Fine. We'll abide by your stipulations." Naomi stated much to Kara's shock.

"Good. BC and Meia will escort you three to our 'guest' quarters where you can rest. When you want to eat tell one of the security guards assigned to your room and they'll lead you to the cafeteria." Magno said before she smirked, "I hope you behave yourselves and enjoy your stay here."

…

'**Guest' Quarters**

"The guest quarters' not so bad." Cecilia said as she laid on one of the beds in the old men's side barracks. "And here I half expected them to lock us in the brig."

"I'm much more surprised that the Bacterians are in this system to begin with." Naomi said, "And what's more is that they are going after these Harvesters that this crew and Seth have been fighting."

"It looks more like our mortal enemy is muscling in on Harvester territory. The real question is where the Harvester home world is. It's also part of our mission objective to get any information about their home world."

"True."

"Why are you two talking about the Bacterians and Harvesters when we should be worried about how we get Seth out of this ship and back to Gradius?!" Kara raised her voice, "These women are harboring a fugitive not to mention they're pirates from a planet of man haters."

"Based on what the captain said I doubt that we'll be able to." Cecilia said, "Seth's been involved with this crew a lot and he's helped them through some sticky situations even when he didn't have to and he's become close to some of them not to mention he holds a position on the ship. If we try anything they'll definitely retaliate."

"I doubt all of them like him. There would be some people who don't want him around because he's a man and a Gradian." Kara stated.

"True Kara but that group's a minority." Naomi pointed out, "When we arrived I noticed that many of them were unhappy when they heard I was his sister while a few were mad because we are Gradians. Most likely they know about my brother's past and how me and my family treated him."

"But we still have a job to do!"

"Oh really? Or are you just doing this to heal your own conscience? Considering that you dumped Seth for that douchebag Rugal."

"Like you're one to talk. Aren't you desperate to make amends too after you and your parents treated him like trash and then abandoned and disowned him in his time of need to go on a training trip?!"

"You're right. Me and my parents do want to make amends with Seth but at the same time I still have a mission to accomplish which is to bring the same person in for his crimes. You however are worse because you and Seth were a couple, in fact you were the one good thing in his life while we treated him like crap, but then you threw it all away by dumping him so you could sleep with Rugal. Then when Rugal dies you go crawling back to Seth begging to be with him again like he's some fallback guy for you. Ironically enough he's Rugal's killer. From the way I see it you're even more pathetic than I am."

Cecilia just turned away from the two women and ignored their bickering and tried to sleep. As far as she was concerned both were pathetic.

…

In the cafeteria Seth was having his lunch on a table by himself. The crew members sat at their own tables also having their lunch but also whispering about the three Gradius pilots that are on the ship. Especially the leader who happened to be Seth's younger sister. One of the people responsible for making Seth's life miserable.

'_It's bad enough that the brat is here but it's worse that Gradius sent that skank here too! For what? Does she think she can make amends for what she did to me all those years ago? Dumping me for a traitor and then she comes back to me like I'm some fallback guy to use after I execute same traitor. Or is she here for revenge?' _Seth thought as he ate his lunch. So far the Gradius Task Force hadn't done anything stupid but the Alpinia pilot knew that it was only a matter of time before either Naomi or Kara does something to fuck things up. _'And when that happens I'll end them or throw them out!' _he thought.

He went back to his lunch and tried to think of something else but their guests. Fortunately for him someone came in to help in that department.

"Hey Seth." Hibiki called out to the Gradian as he and Duero came in with their lunch.

"Hey you two. What's up?" Seth casually greeted back.

"We should be asking that. What's your deal with those three women?" Hibiki asked but flinched when Seth glared at him.

"Two of them are old comrades of mine, two of them are people I never wanted to see again, and only one of them I'm on somewhat good terms with." Seth replied.

"Naomi is one of the two you never wanted to see again and your former squad mate." Duero guessed.

"Right on point Duero, and she was my sister." Seth added.

"Was?! What do you mean by that?" Hibiki asked in confusion.

"My so called _family _disowned me during my incarceration just to save their so called honor, yet they still did nothing about my traitorous douchebag of a cousin Rugal." Seth stated venomously, "When I was vindicated and released the fools tried to get me back in their lives, especially Naomi who was just plain annoying acting like a lost puppy all the way through Gradius Academy and even after." Hibiki cringed when he heard it.

"Just like Dita."

"Yeah. But at least Dita means well compared to Naomi." Seth added.

"What about the other two?" Duero asked.

"Cecilia is the only one I'm on somewhat good terms with. Mainly because she's from Latis and even when she did meet me she didn't treat me like the others and she also saw my incarceration as rubbish. Heck she even invited me to join Latis. However I turned her down because I didn't want to cause trouble for Gradius' ally. Fortunately she understood that and didn't push the issue." Seth chuckled before he then frowned, "Kara on the other hand is a good for nothing skank that dumped me for that traitor Rugal. Before that she was someone I had feelings for and we were good friends. She kept me sane while my stupid parents neglected me and Naomi was a brat. Then one day when we met to celebrate her birthday she told me that she was seeing someone else. It was easy to put two and two together to find out that she was seeing Rugal and she had become a fucking skank too! Then after I kill the traitorous bastard she tries to come back to me like I'm some fall back guy. After playing with my heart she expects me to happily be back with her? Pathetic!"

"It's that bad huh?" Meia asked as she approached the table after hearing Seth rant. "Mind if I join you?"

"Help yourself. And yes it's that bad." Seth said. Meia sat across from him on the table. Hibiki and Duero moved to the end of the table.

"So that one known as Kara…you used to…be in love with her?" Meia continued.

"Yes…keyword being _used_. And just when I thought I found someone that I loved and also returned that same love, I then ended up finding out that she's a two timing shallow skank. Then after I executed Rugal she came back to me thinking that we'd just make up and be together again. I was so tempted to kill her back at Gradius but I stopped myself. However just seeing her makes me want to reconsider that, not to mention that she may just want revenge on me for killing Rugal, which won't be surprising." Seth sighed.

"And why is that?" Meia asked.

"The skank actually had feelings for that traitorous playboy. Can you believe that?" Seth continued ranting, "I feel like I'm sounding like a broken record repeating this. Anyways I'd advise you and the others to be on your guard."

"Why?"

"Those three were sent to obviously bring me back to Gradius by any means. Even with Magno's finality Naomi is still determined to complete her mission. Cecilia's the type that knows when to press forward and when to back off and if Kara's the same as I remember her, she won't know when to get the hint unless you resort to something drastic to get the point across."

"I'll be sure to inform the others."

"Do that. We need to be ready for whatever stunt they'd pull."

…

The Gradius Task Force members were given some freedom around the ship but were restricted to the hangar, gym, garden and cafeteria. The three pilots didn't complain since they knew they were not exactly welcomed here even when they were considered guests. Naomi and Kara felt the hostility of most of the crew being aimed at them the most with the exception of the captain, BC, Gascogne and Duero who were neutral to all three of them. Hell even Dita wanted nothing to do with Naomi and Kara. Bart told them to stay the hell away from him and Seth's team told them to watch themselves. Cecilia only got distrust from some the crew mostly because her planet was associated with Gradius. The rest were mostly neutral with her.

Cecilia was in the garden sighing in frustration. A good distance away was her security detail assigned to her by Magno so that she doesn't try anything funny. Well Cecilia had no intention of doing so especially when she never wanted to be involved in this fruitless mission to begin with. Latis High Command shared her opinion but since they were allies with Gradius they had to help them and she was unfortunate enough to be sent to assist Gradius with bringing in their rogue pilot. One that they treated like crap for years before he decided to tell them to fuck off and left Gradius for a better life. How hard is it to leave the man alone? Well according to Gradius it's hard! Freaking retards!

She wasn't surprised by Seth's desertion as she had seen it coming a mile away. Considering the crap he had to put up with in his life, it wasn't a big surprise that he wasn't going to stay any longer. The last straw was before and after Operation Solar Assault; they expected him to die in that mission and when they saw him back with her and Naomi they weren't happy about it, and let's not forget the discovered sabotage that someone pulled on the Alpinia before the operation began. That someone ended up in the ICU and the ones who got him to perform the sabotage were exposed by evidence and they were locked up for treason. Too bad Seth didn't stay to see it happen as he'd already lost all faith in such justice system.

"Hello there." Cecilia turned to see Annette walking towards her. "Cecilia Daley, am I right?"

"Weren't you there when my team lead introduced us to the rest of you?" Cecilia deadpanned, "Either way yes I am her. "What's yours?"

"Annette Davis…Nice to meet you."

"Same here. I'm more surprised that you even want to talk with me."

"We know of Seth's history and you are not on his shit list. You're at least someone he'd tolerate compared to the other two." Annette placed a hand on her hip, "He's told us about his time with your squad which had only been deployed for Operation Solar Assault. He said your presence on the team made the mission much more…tolerable for him."

Cecilia giggled. "Not surprising he said that. Seth did somehow feel at ease when he was around me. Maybe it's because I didn't judge him like those arrogant retards on Gradius. I never even knew how much he hated Naomi until he told me himself after he nearly shot her."

"We know about how badly he was treated by Naomi and her parents but I want to ask if it was really that bad?" Annette asked.

"Yes it's that bad and it only got worse when Seth entered Gradius Academy after his family realized their stupidity." Cecilia sighed. "Even now Naomi is desperate to get Seth back into the family and get his forgiveness, unfortunately it's a lost cause and worse she and her family don't realize that. In fact I have a bad feeling that she'll resort to something unorthodox just to get Seth back."

"Describe unorthodox." Annette asked with interest.

"In other words, Naomi would break protocol or even try something she'd never even consider doing to get her way. She and Seth aren't easy people to read and are also very determined people." Cecilia said, "I'd warn your captain if I were you."

"Why are you telling me this? Isn't it your mission to capture Seth?"

"I don't see any point in dragging a man back to a place he calls hell nor do I see any point in prosecuting a man who did what the justice system didn't have the stones to. As far as I'm concerned Seth should be left alone to do what he wants."

"I see…"

"Well then it was nice talking to you Annette." Cecilia turned around and made her way to the security detail before being escorted out of the garden.

…

"What are you doing here Naomi?" Seth asked as he paused the Alpinia's maintenance to stare at his former sister who was being watched by four guards.

"I just want to talk, that's all." Naomi stated, "Is that a problem?"

"Yes it is, seeing as there is nothing to talk about." Seth said, folding his arms and glaring. Naomi ignored the glare to look at the black space fighter with orange stripes. It looked to be in great condition which she was impressed with.

"Keep your eyes off my ship." Seth said bringing Naomi's attention back to him.

"Your ship? The Alpinia belongs to Gradius, not you brother." Naomi argued.

Seth scoffed mockingly, "There you go again calling me brother. I'm no longer part of your pathetic family in case you've forgotten. Your parents saw to that remember? And Alpinia belonging to Gradius? That's rich! Though it's not surprising that they didn't tell you that they gave me the only produced model of the Alpinia out of arrogance."

"That's not true."

"Oh yes it is. The higher ups didn't want me anywhere near their precious Vic Viper and they didn't like the idea of a fighter that combines the best of it and Lord British. Latis didn't have any issues with it but the ass hats in Gradius did and they happily let me have this bad boy." Seth pointed his thumb at the space fighter in question.

The guards and the engineers were now paying attention to their conversation. Naomi shakes her head in mild annoyance. She could see that this was getting nowhere.

"I'm not here to debate with you brother since it's clear that we'll get nowhere. I'll only going to ask once more. Will you turn yourself in willingly?"

"You already know the answer to that brat but I'll say it again in a word you can understand…NO."

"Why!? Mother and Father are eagerly waiting for you back on Gradius. Do you know how long they've wanted to see you again? How long we want to be a family again?"

"And does it look like I give two fucks about those two fools? They're the ones who disowned me to begin with to save their reputation. The only parents I had were the Reagers and after their deaths you and your parents swooped in like vultures trying to get me back into your family!" Naomi cringed as Seth continued to glare at her. "And now you show up again with Cecilia and that fucking skank Kara demanding my captain to release me into your custody?! Here's my message to you and the other fucks at Gradius: Go fuck yourselves!"

Naomi sighed, "Is that your final answer? You know what would happen next don't you?"

"You think I give two fucks about what happens next? Don't forget that you and those morons you call parents caused this or have you forgotten when you suggested to them that I'd be given the death penalty to solve your problems?" Seth asked coldly causing Naomi and everyone else in the hangar to widen their eyes in shock.

"W-What!? H-H-How did you know?!" Naomi stuttered in disbelief.

"You may have been behind the glass but I could read your lips." Seth replied venomously, "Good thing Miranda and the Reagers put a wrench in that. Now do me a favor and get the fuck out of my sight while I'm still civil." He then resumed his maintenance of his fighter.

Naomi was frozen on the spot still in disbelief that Seth remembered that day, not to mention reading her lips. The guard in charge of the security detail recovered from her shock before getting her team back to normal.

"Alright! Time to go Miss _Veron._" She and the others then escorted Naomi out of the hangar.

Seth saw them leave from the corner of his eye and continued his work. Stupid bitch! She thought she could subtly threaten him!? As if! Of course he knew what the consequences of his actions would be when he left Gradius and he was prepared to live with them and now that he's become a part of something bigger than himself, there's no way he was leaving it.

…

"I'll say this once again…I will NOT let you have Seth! Nor the Alpinia!" Magno shouted as she, BC and Naomi were once more in the conference room. "We've already been through this Miss Veron and you're getting annoying right now."

"I'm doing this for Seth's sake and yours too." Naomi replied, "Seth's a mentally unstable person whose actions could harm not only himself but your crew and you obviously don't want that."

"Seth's mental health is not an issue since he has us to keep him stable." Magno deadpanned in reply.

"And what about his high blood pressure? I know that your Tarakan doctor is good at his job but how long would that last?" Naomi pressed on. "Not to mention you're letting a person with such a condition go fighting in space and in charge of a team of dread pilots."

"Duero has Seth on meds to keep his blood pressure at safe levels. Also you forget that Seth's a very good pilot and he knows how to keep calm in battle, not to mention he already has leadership experience from his time as a mercenary so your point is moot." BC stated.

"But…"

"That's enough Naomi. You're not helping your situation here. My decision still stands."

Naomi sighed in surrender and frustration. Well can't say she didn't try.

…

Kara was annoyed at the fact that she was being escorted by her security detail. While she understood that she was in someone else's ship it still stung that they were being treated like this. All they want is one man and they'll be on their way. The only problem is that the man they want is a member of this crew of pirates and the captain made it clear to them that they were not giving him up anytime soon. She also couldn't believe that Seth willingly joined this crew of space pirates, Mejerian space pirates to be exact! Gradius and Mejere did not get along at all, yet Seth was on a ship mostly consisting of them with the exception of the three men from Tarak, but they were not an issue. Tarak were also not on good terms with Gradius but it wasn't as bad as the situation with Mejere.

Right now Kara was thinking of how she'll convince Seth to come back with her before she had to resort to something extreme. Naomi and Cecilia may not like it but it's their mission to bring the fugitive and the stolen fighter back.

Suddenly she bumped into someone at a junction and she fell to the floor. She was about to yell at the person…speak of the devil…Seth was looking down at her and he was with a blank look on his face.

"Uh…Hello Seth…"

Seth just hissed as he roughly picked Kara up by the neck and got her to her feet. The security team kept their distance from the two but stayed just in range to react in case things went to hell since they had been told about Seth's hostility to the Gradius team. The former couple just stared at each other in nerve wracking silence that lasted for almost five minutes.

"Well…Aren't you going to say anything?" Kara asked, breaking the silence.

"What is there to say? What do you expect me to say?" Seth asked.

"A hello would be a start, followed by a "long time no see" or "how's life been treating you?"" Kara deadpanned.

"I have no intention to act like things are good between us skank!" Seth sneered, making Kara flinch and the guards confused.

"You don't have to act like things are good between us. Just being polite would be nice." Kara stated calmly.

"And why the hell should I be polite to a skank like you?" Seth countered.

"And why are you being such a cynical person?" Kara fired back.

"Considering how you had no problem betraying me to screw that traitor of a cousin, the same one who helped another traitor ruin my life, I have every right to be cynical and to call you a skank, skank!" Seth countered again. "Like I told you the last time…I want nothing to do with you ever again! So get the fuck off this ship along with that brat Naomi and never show your faces again."

Kara went silent as Seth walked past her and then the security detail. She couldn't say anything to counter what he said because it was the truth. She betrayed someone who wanted to be with her to sleep with a traitor and she reaped what she sowed as a result. Rugal Veron ended up dead courtesy of Seth and the same man standing in front of her cut his ties with her for good. The security guards were now glaring at the female Gradian after hearing about how she dumped their crewmate for a traitorous bastard. They wanted to beat the woman to a bloody pulp or use her for target practice but unfortunately they had a job to do which was to handle the Nirvana's guests.

…

Cecilia and her escort were looking for Seth as Latis pilot wanted to catch up with her old comrade. They weren't exactly friends but there were on good terms either way. When they turned the corner Cecilia saw the person she was looking for talking with a tall and broad woman who was dressed in a short sleeved tanned shirt with flaring shoulder pads and dark trousers. Seth and this woman were having a conversation and Seth was smiling genuinely and paying attention to what the woman was saying. Cecilia dared to say that Seth enjoyed being around her.

"Who's that person Seth's talking with?" Cecilia asked one of the guards.

"She's Miss Gasco, leader of Reg Central."

"Reg Central huh? So she handles the supplies of the ship?"

"Yes, she does. Anything else?"

"Nothing more."

Cecilia watched as Seth and Gascogne continued their conversation. Soon Seth thanked the Reg Central leader and left her while she returned into Reg Central. Seth and Cecilia's eyes met as he walked towards her and her escort. After he walked past them Cecilia felt something in her pocket. She took a quick glimpse at what it was and smirked.

'_Thanks Seth.' _She said mentally. That was going to be useful in the future.

**...**

Some hours later the Gradius Task Force finally left the Nirvana and went away from them. Magno hoped that they'd leave them and Seth alone for good but she knew that was only wishful thinking. Seth agreed with that sentiment as he knew what was coming next. They'd report to Gradius High Command and they'd bring in the elite to deal with him and the crew.

And he was right about that!

…

**Gradius High Command, Planet Gradius**

"So he refused to turn himself in?"

"_Yes. Not only that he's a member of Magno Vivian's pirate crew. I tried peaceful negotiations but that already failed right out the gate sir."_

"No worries. It was bound to happen. We just hoped that he'd see reason if he met you three. Too bad it didn't work."

"_Seth sees the pirates as a family more than his real family…"_

"Due to the hand he was dealt with back here it's not a surprise. Anyways here are your new orders: tail the Nirvana and keep us updated. I'll be sending a squad to back your team up. We're no longer playing nice."

"_Yes, sir."_

"One more thing to add…your parents are part of that team."

"_WHAT! Why?!"_

"They want their boy back just as much as you Naomi. Even when I tried to dissuade them they insisted that they'd join in. They've long been out of retirement ever since we made up the task force to get your brother back and knowing them they will not hesitate to do whatever they have to just to get him back."

"_I still don't like this sir! It's bad enough that Seth hates me, then there's the fact that he hates my parents even more. The moment they show up Seth will no doubt go ballistic just like Operation Reprisal or even worse."_

"I don't like it as much as you do, but we already have our orders. Let's hope that it doesn't get that bad-Hold on. I've just received something important. You're dismissed."

* * *

**Chapter XVI End.**

**Well that ended…better than expected. Unfortunately things are going to get worse for Seth and the Nirvana crew as they now have Gradius to worry about along with the Harvesters and Bacterians. How much worse can it get? Also what was Cecilia happy about?**

**Anyways leave a review.**


	17. Clusterfuck

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. Leave it at that!**

**Chapter XVII: Clusterfuck**

* * *

It had been three days since the Gradius Task Force consisting of two of Seth's former comrades Cecilia Daley and Seth's younger sister Naomi Veron and Kara Lowell, whom only a few security members knew was Seth's ex-girlfriend at first before everyone else found out. Not surprisingly, many of the crew were furious at the woman but Seth told them to not bother about her and that he'd severed his ties with her for good. It was good enough to calm most of them down, but a certain few could see that the Gradian was still hurting from seeing not only his ex-girlfriend but also his ex-sister show up in his life just when he thought he'd left them behind. One of those few was Magno who ordered the Gradius pilot to take some time off due to his compromising emotional state. That also included no working on the Alpinia which Parfet was more than happy to deal with, of course after Seth unlocked the security system of the ship and left her a warning to not screw up his ship or there'll be hell to pay.

Of course Seth was more pissed off at the one who led those two to him…Rabat! That good for nothing bastard just had to tell them where he was and worse his stupid ex-sibling just had to take it and not capture the one who nearly got their home world harvested by inhumane monsters. Seth made a point to kill the bastard the next time he saw his rotten face…and of course collect the bounty on the spy's head after.

The Gradian woke up feeling more agitated than usual. He put a hand on his face and frowned as he noticed that he was sweating. He wiped the sweat off his face and then noticed his alarm clock showing that it was already past noon, meaning that he slept in which added to his agitation. He growled in frustration before getting off the bed and making his way to the bathroom to freshen up and cool off. Five minutes later he was out in his flight suit and out of his quarters. Seth really needed to do something to keep his mind off the event three days ago and deal with his boredom and fortunately for him he got it as he noticed Dita and Hibiki carrying boxes of supplies though Hibiki carried most of it and with difficulty.

"Hey you two." Seth greeted.

"Ah, hi Mr. Seth!" Dita happily called out. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, all things considered." The pilot replied before turning to Hibiki, "Need a hand with that?"

"That…would be…much appreciated." Hibiki replied and immediately the load became lighter and he was sighing in relief due to Seth now carrying most of the boxes. "Thanks Seth."

"No need for the thanks. I'm bored and I need something to do." Seth replied.

"Not surprising. When are you never bored?" Hibiki deadpanned.

"When I'm shooting down the enemy or working on the Alpinia. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to do both because the Captain has me grounded for the time being and Parfet insisted that she'd work on my ship." Seth bluntly replied before turning to Dita, "So where to Dita?"

"The kitchen." Dita said as she led the two males to said destination. Along the way the redhead decided to ask the older male a question.

"Are you really okay Mr. Seth?"

Seth raised an eyebrow while Hibiki looked at Dita in confusion.

"Didn't Seth already say that he's alright?!" Hibiki asked.

Seth knew why she was asking him that as like certain crew members such as Meia, Jura, Ezra, funny enough Barnette and his G Team Members except for Akira, they were still worried about his mentality after their encounter with his former squad mates, especially his former sister and ex-girlfriend. The Gradian may act like he usually does, but they could still tell that he was still hurting from that reunion.

"Like I already said Dita…I'm fine. Don't worry about me." The Gradian replied.

Dita accepted his answer and left it that as the three continued down the corridor towards the kitchen. Soon they were walking through the women's quarters. Seth was somehow trailing behind due to being in thought about what was coming next. Due to him not returning peacefully Gradius would no doubt respond with a full squad to bring him in and no doubt eliminate the Nirvana too in the process.

'_Like I'm going to let that happen. No one's taking my new family from me! Huh?! Family?! Whoa! Did I just consider the crew my family?! Where did that come from?' _

Seth shook that thought off to think about after other important things. While he knew that he could handle himself in a fight against other Gradius pilots due to being familiar with their flight patterns he was still worried about the Nirvana crew since they haven't really engaged Gradians in a fight, not to mention a squadron of Gradius pilots. Sure they knew about the famous Vic Viper and Lord British but they didn't know about the Jade Knight or Falchion Beta ships nor had they taken on any of the mentioned four in battle. Sure they know about the Gradius fighters' armaments and have had mock battles with Seth himself but his style is different from the regular Gradius pilots due to the design of his ship which is mainly for high speed operations. At most they'll be able to deal with Naomi and Cecilia since their ships are also designed for the same purpose.

'_Looks like I'll have to also train the crew in fighting Gradius fighters too.' _

"Hurry up Mr. Seth!" Dita's voice interrupted Seth's thoughts. He looked ahead to notice that she and Hibiki were way ahead of him at the end of the hall.

"Can't you see he's coming?! Geez you know you can be annoying sometimes!" Hibiki said while looking back at the Gradian.

"Don't worry you two. I'll catch up." Seth assured them, "Go on ahead."

"Okay I'll be in the kitchen. Hurry up!" The bubbly redhead called over to him as she and Hibiki went on ahead.

"That girl's too bubbly for her own good." Seth muttered with a small smirk, "But that makes her who she is and honestly I like that."

Due to his lack of attention Seth stumbled by a door which slid open. After recovering and keeping the boxes he had in place Seth sighed in relief before hearing a shocked gasp from a woman. He then made the mistake of looking at where the sound came from and saw a green haired girl in her undergarments and a familiar bear suit which informed Seth that the girl was Celtic. Said girl was panicking at the sight of the Gradian who respectfully looked away from her.

"Sorry." he quickly apologized. "Although you should be more like that, you look much better out of that stuffy bear suit of yours." He quickly walked away from the room missing the blush on the young lady's face. Not long after he left he heard Celtic scream followed by the footsteps of other women moving towards her room.

A few minutes removed from his minor intrusion Seth arrived at the kitchen with the supplies and had to dodge a freaked out Hibiki running out of the kitchen. Walking in, he saw Dita putting away some chopped onions into a bowl and also noticed her red eyes. He easily pieced it together what had occurred before sighing in annoyance as he put down the supplies.

'_Moron just freaked out over nothing.' _Seth thought, _'Doesn't he know about what happens when one cuts onions? Oh wait…he doesn't since he's only eaten pills for most of his life.'_

Seth offered to help Dita with the cooking but the redhead politely turned him down though thanked him for the offer. Not wanting to force the issue he accepted and left the kitchen.

…

Seth arrived at Reg Central where he saw the head of the department supervising her staff. Figuring he could get some work done in this place the Gradian walked up to the one in charge.

"Hey Miss Gascogne."

The taller woman turned and smiled as she saw Seth walking towards her with a look of boredom on his face. "Hey Seth. Fancy meeting you here. Let me guess…bored as usual."

"Obviously. You would be too when the Captain grounds you and the head engineer insists she performs maintenance on your ship." Seth sighed, "Then you offer to help someone with cooking and get turned down, politely at least and now find yourself with nothing to do. Please tell me you need help with something."

Gascogne smirked in amusement, seeing the hopeful look in his eyes, "Well fortunately for you, I do need help with some boxes containing heavy ordinances for the dreads. Something a man like you can handle right?"

"THANK YOU!" Seth said in an exaggerated fashion and hugged the taller woman. Gascogne was caught off guard again by the gesture with her staff also looking on wide eyes at the man hugging their boss. Seth released the hug and stood at attention.

"So where are the boxes so I can get right to it?" Seth asked cheerfully, bringing Gascogne out of her confusion.

"Oh right…Follow me Seth." She said as she led the man towards the supplies that needed to be moved while the others were wondering what the hell just happened.

…

Meanwhile trouble was brewing as some women were holding a meeting in the briefing room and a certain incident was going to be blown out of proportions as Celtic explained how Seth intruded on her while she was changing.

"Are you serious?" Jura asked in disbelief. She couldn't believe that Seth could what Celtic said he did.

"Yes I'm serious Jura! That man barged into my room while I was changing clothes!" Celtic said.

"I highly doubt that. Seth's not the type to just intrude on anyone, especially their privacy." Monica argued.

"That's not the only thing we should be bothered about, Hibiki made Dita cry! See!" Paiway interrupted as she showed the women a video as proof.

Everyone was stunned and began believing that they should do something about the four men on the ship, everyone except Meia, Annette, Monica and Lisa who either didn't seem to care or were annoyed at how they were misunderstanding the situation and blowing it out of proportion.

"I can't believe this! You people are just misunderstanding everything!" Annette exclaimed.

"We're not! The proof is right here!" Paiway yelled before looking to the rest of the women in the room, "We all seem to have forgotten one very important thing and it's that men are extremely dangerous."

"The only thing I see here is you morons blowing this out of proportion!" Lisa snapped, "It's clear that you're not thinking this through properly."

"What's there to think about when the evidence is right in front of you!?" Akira yelled.

"The same could be said for you since that same evidence also contradicts yours." Lisa fired back.

"That's not the point!" Celtic said, "Men are our enemies and can't you see that they've done nothing but cause trouble ever since we allowed them to roam around the ship!? Right Barnette?"

"Count me out of this." Barnette said shocking many of the women, including Jura and Meia. Many had expected her to support Celtic and Akira, even be the one to take charge considering her hatred against men, but spending time with Seth after hearing about his shitty past, she began to change her opinions just a little bit. She didn't trust the men completely but she was less hostile towards them.

"Barnette?! What are you saying?! I thought-"Akira said.

"That I hated men? I did at some point but being around the men especially Seth…opened my eyes a bit things. I may not trust them in general but at least I can trust the ones in our crew to an extent." Barnette said, "If you want to go causing trouble for everyone go ahead, just don't count me in on it. C'mon Jura."

"Huh? S-Sure Barnette." Jura said still surprised at the change of events.

"I can't believe what I just heard…Barnette taking the side of the men?!" Akira stated before recovering from shock, "Doesn't change anything though! We need to take action and put the men under lock and key."

"I think you're forgetting your place." Meia finally said, "If you have a complaint then address it to the captain or the commander, but don't try and start a riot on the ship."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but after we took those men prisoner you wanted to just throw them off the ship." Celtic said.

"That's right. Don't tell me you're taking the men's side Meia." Akira added.

"I'm just saying that if you let your emotions guide you then you won't make it very far." Meia said, "And to start with, you are all making a big deal out of something this trivial."

"Trivial?" Akira muttered, "Are you freaking serious!? In case you've forgotten men are our enemies. Especially that one from Gradius who's a wanted man! I really hope you don't plan on siding with any of them Meia cause if you do-"

"You'll do what?" Meia asked, cutting Akira off. "If I did decide to defend them in this situation what would you do about it? What would any of you do about it? If it wasn't for Hibiki we never would have made it this far. If it wasn't for Bart the ship never would have moved. If it wasn't for Seth several of you wouldn't even be here. And if it wasn't for Duero I wouldn't be here right now. You all seem to have forgotten just how much we owe them right now."

"Owe them? I never asked them to help us and I damn sure never wanted to owe them anything. If anything they owe us! Especially Seth! That bastard owes me his life for taking my sisters from me!"

"You seem to have forgotten that those same sisters of yours took the lives of his parents. That was just karma biting them in the ass. All you're doing is looking for petty revenge."

"They deserved their deaths for showing up at Mejere. Emissary or not they shouldn't have come!"

"And your sisters deserved theirs for what they did too. If anything your sisters nearly doomed us all thanks to their actions." Annette countered in anger, "Gradius would have wiped us all out if not for the fact our humiliating defeat satisfied them. It's also because of your sisters that Seth became 'The Mejerian Butcher'. So you have no right to blame anyone Akira!"

"It doesn't matter Annette! We still cannot let the men roam around free anymore." Akira stubbornly said.

Lisa face palmed. "I can't believe you."

"Then leave! If you don't like it that much take your dread and leave, otherwise get over it." Meia said to a seething Akira before leaving the room. Following suit were Annette, Monica and Lisa who were still disgusted at their teammate.

**...**

"So it comes down to this one hand huh?" Seth muttered as he looked at the cards in his hand. He and the Reg Central leader had been playing poker ever since the others went on break. Seth himself had done a lot of heavy lifting for hours and he was satisfied with himself. Having the place to themselves the two decided to play some rounds of poker to cool off. So far out of eight games it's even between them. Gascogne was surprised to meet someone who could match her in a card game, with Seth sharing the same sentiment since he was the best poker player at the Gradius Academy. Unlike Hibiki who was easy to read Gascogne found the Gradian was much harder to get as he always had a blank face on which made for one hell of a poker face.

"Yes it does Seth." Gascogne said, "And here I never expected you to actually match me in poker."

"Same here as I never expected to find my match either." The Gradian remarked before revealing his cards. "Royal Straight Flush."

"Wow! That is an impressive hand Seth…" Gascogne commented…before dropping the hammer, "…Royal Straight Flush too but I've got spades."

"Damn it!"

Gascogne laughed as she gathered up the large pile of chips.

"Alright you win this round Gascogne. I'll be winning next time though!"

"And I'll be waiting for your next challenge."

Seth stood up from his seat and walked out of Reg Central leaving the boss behind.

'_That was indeed intense. He definitely gave me a run for my money.' _Gascogne thought before sighing. _'At least I'm glad to see that Seth's feeling better. It was difficult to see him still hurting after his unhappy reunion. Maybe I should spend some time with-Whoa! Hold on there! Did I just think that?!' _She found herself blushing as she was actually having certain thoughts. She quickly put those down just as her staff returned from their break.

…

Seth was in the hanger with Parfet as he looked at the Alpinia with an impressed look after the chief engineer and her team had done a good job on his space fighter. He had to admit that they did an even better job than him and even Gradius mechanics combined. That Parfet definitely knew her way around machines like this. Maybe he'd let her take care of his machine from now on.

"So what do you think Seth?" Parfet asked cheerfully.

"I'll have to admit, you did a much better job on the Alpinia than I have and I've been around this bad boy longer than you. Hell I'd say that you could give Gradius mechanics a run for their money."

"Wow! Thanks I guess." The engineer responded with pride and gratitude.

It was then the two saw the hangar doors open and Akira was walking over to them, burning glare in her eyes and even more she was armed with a laser rifle. Seth obviously knew that she had not so noble intentions for him and sighed at dealing with this annoying bitch again. Parfet however was confused about what was up with Akira.

"What do you want again Akira?" Seth asked coldly, "As you can see I'm busy right now."

Akira pointed her weapon her weapon at him, "Simple. You're coming with me back to be locked up in the brig where you belong. Parfet please step away from him."

"E-Eh?! What's going on here?" Parfet exclaimed while stepping back.

"Yeah. Like she said." Seth added.

"You men have been given too much free reign on the ship and now we're doing what should have been done to begin with. Locking you all back up especially you. Besides Mejere would be glad to get their hands on the Mejerian Butcher himself." Akira said with a smug expression as she got closer to the Gradian. "Better yet I'll kill you right here and give your corpse and your ship to the higher ups at Mejere. They'll consider me a hero for getting rid of you."

"Well then, consider your plan a failure already." Seth said before he surprised Akira as he quickly moved diagonally out of her line of fire and grabbed her weapon before punching her in the throat. While Akira was disoriented and he pulled the weapon out of her hands, and used it like a baseball bat, smacking her on the temple and knocking her out. Seth then brought out a rip cord from one of his suit's pockets and used it to bind and restrain the unconscious woman. "And as of right now you're no longer in my squad."

Parfet sweat dropped at the sight. "Um Seth? Was that necessary?"

Seth picked Akira up and put her over his shoulder. "In this case yes. Besides like you I'd like to know what the hell's going on right now."

Parfet nodded in agreement. What was going on? The two left the hangar and soon reached the elevator and called it.

'_I wonder what brought this on. Something I did? That's highly unlikely. Anyways I need to put an end to this rubbish before it gets out of hand.' _Seth thought as he waited by the elevator.

The elevator opened and Seth and Parfet avoided a frantic Hibiki that'd bolted out, yelling at them to get out of his way as he sprinted to the hangar.

'_Either Hibiki or Bart did something stupid to put us males in this mess or the women finally snapped. My money is on the former.' _Seth thought as he entered the elevator and rode it towards the bridge.

"Why's Hibiki in such a rush?" Parfet questioned as she joined Seth in the elevator.

"We're about to find out soon." Seth relied.

They soon arrived at the bridge just in time to see a screen showing the Vanguard flying away and BC yelling at the pilot.

"I'm never returning to that hell hole again you hear me!" Hibiki yelled back, "See ya!"

"May I know why the hell the numbskull is running from here?!" Seth asked as the screen went off and drawing everyone's attention to him as he walked in with Akira's unconscious body over his shoulder followed by Parfet behind him.

"Seth! Explain yourself!" BC demanded.

"I came here just to get an explanation myself." Seth replied before dumping Akira on the floor with the fall getting her out of unconsciousness. "What the hell's going on and why the fuck did Akira here think it would be a good idea to aim a gun at me and threaten me!? I had half a mind to kill her then but instead settled for getting to the bottom of this mess!"

Akira opened her eyes, and soon noticed her predicament and then began yelling at Seth to release her from her bindings. Sick of dealing with her, Seth soccer kicked her in the head and knocked her out again getting glares from everyone in the bridge.

"What!? The crazy girl doesn't know when to shut up!"

Magno closed her eyes and sighed, clearly frustrated at the situation.

"Apparently the crew decided to take things into their hands and round you men up because of Hibiki making Dita cry and you barging in on Celtic when she was changing, which they thought was enough to consider you all a threat." BC explained.

Seth felt his anger and blood pressure rising after hearing the bullshit reason. "Seriously!? So because I tripped and accidentally ended up in Celtic's room and Dita 'cried' because of the fumes from cutting onions that made all the men threats?!" He then paused to look at Celtic, "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" Resulting in said girl being scared shitless.

"Calm yourself Seth! Right now we have more pressing matters to deal with!" Magno ordered the pilot. Seth reluctantly obeyed but not before glaring at Celtic once more and turning his attention to the captain.

"By pressing matters you mean putting down this stupid riot and finding Hibiki." Seth said calmly while taking deep breaths to calm his nerves.

It was then another screen appeared over the bridge showing both Dita and Meia.

"Captain please do something!" Dita cried, "We have to go find Mr. Alien before something happens to him."

"With your permission Captain I'd like to leave to go search for him." Meia suggested.

"I'll go and get our wayward crew member back home. Meia is better suited to put down this stupid riot." Seth said.

"Why is that so?" BC asked.

"Because if it was up to me this riot would end violently with me putting the moron(s) who started this in the ICU while reminding them about why we're all here together in the first place. I already know that Akira here…" Seth pointed to the unconscious person, "…is most likely one of the ringleaders or is THE ringleader."

"Actually it was only Akira that was leading this." Meia said, "Barnette wanted no part of it and excluded herself."

"That's surprising. At least she's seen reason now." Seth said in surprise himself, "Well that takes care of one problem then. So permission to go get our wayward boy back Captain?" Seth said.

Magno nodded and smirked, "Granted. Go get the kid back here."

Seth saluted, "Roger that Captain." The Gradius pilot quickly left for the hangar and climbed into the Alpinia. In seconds the space fighter was already out in space.

"Bridge. I'll need the general direction the Vanguard went." Seth contacted the bridge.

"Sending coordinates to you Seth. Be careful out there." Ezra said.

"Thanks I'll be back in no time with the numbskull in tow." The Alpinia flew off into the direction Hibiki went, quickly fading beyond radar coverage.

"Where are you Hibiki? I know you're not dead yet." Seth said as he kept going. Soon enough he got a lock on the Vanguard. "There you are! Oh I'm so going to give you an earful and beating when I find you."

Seth stopped when he saw two large hits on his radar as well as a cluster of blips just ahead of the large ones.

"Two enemy fleets and one allied fleet...all with Melanos IFFs, and they're all engaged in battle." Seth looked up and said "I'd better gun it! No way in hell am I letting a family member! Wayward or not!" Seth then froze for a second, "Family member?! What the heck?! Whatever, that's for another time."

Speeding up the Alpinia arrived at the battlefield in no time only to see a clusterfuck of a battle. Melanos Fleet and the Vanguard are engaged in battle against the Harvesters and Bacterians, the Harvesters are having to deal with the Bacterians getting in their way while trying to take down the Melanos fleet and the Bacterians trying to destroy both forces. Yes a clusterfuck indeed.

Wasting no time Seth joined the battle and begun shooting down enemies from either the Harvester or Bacterian side. His Options Lockdown and Swarm Psycom Missiles decimating the opposition and getting the attention of the Melanos fleet and Hibiki.

"_That's the Alpinia! Looks like Gradius answered our call for help!" _said a Melanos fighter pilot.

"_But one ship is all they can spare?! They must not think our situation is serious." _Another pilot said.

"Sorry to disappoint you but I'm not part of Gradius anymore. I'm Seth Reager of the Nirvana and I'm here for a certain Vanguard pilot and now to help you out." Seth replied.

"_Seth Reager?! As in the Seth Reager, the man who helped expose that bastard Rabat and saved other planets?!" _The Melanos fleet commander exclaimed.

"Yes! Yes! It's me! We can save the chat for after we send these bastards to hell." Seth said in irritation.

"_We thank you for your assistance anyways!" _

"Sure." Seth sighed. He didn't need the celebrity status. His cockpit monitor suddenly turned on showing a surprised Hibiki.

"Seth! What are you doing here?!"

"Getting your wayward ass back home but for now we have enemies to deal with. Go on I'll back you up."

Firing another barrage of lasers, swarm Psycom missiles, Mind Blasts and locking down with the Options Seth took down another large group of enemies from both sides. Using the chaos from the blitz attack Hibiki rushed in taking down a good number of enemies. Seeing the change of momentum the commander of the Melanos fleet ordered all of his ships to follow Seth and Hibiki into battle.

But then things took a turn for worse when the Harvester Flagship opened up and fired a massive beam that wiped out the entire Melanos fleet leaving only Seth and Hibiki behind and some of the Bacterian forces.

Hibiki looked on in terror at the devastating results while Seth looked on with a blank face but inwardly he was mad at the situation.

'_So many dead just like that…I've witnessed results like this before but I could never get used to it.' _

Seth was brought out of his thoughts when he heard an enraged Hibiki scream and rush towards the Harvester Flagship. Seth wasted no time getting in the way of the Vanguard pilot but that also resulted in something unexpected happening as a blinding bright light engulfing the Vanguard and Alpinia. A few seconds later the light vanished to reveal something else in place of the two ships.

A black and silver lightly armored mech with gold trims around its frame, the head was white and skull-like with black and orange eyes giving it a demonic look, the back bearing a bare spinal-like appearance with wing-like thrusters protruding from it. On its right arm was a retractable laser blade which doubled as a laser cannon while its left arm had a reflector shield which also doubled as another laser cannon. Finally floating around the mech were multiple orbital bits.

The remaining Bacterian forces didn't seem to care about the new mech nor did seem bothered but they still went after it. The Harvesters however immediately charged at the new threat with intentions to eliminate it immediately. The charging enemies fired their weapons at the lone mech.

The mech's eyes glowed as the new mechanoid's reflector shield easily deflected their attacks away before immediately firing multiple homing missiles in retaliation. When the missiles exploded more missiles came out and took down even more enemies in the process. The mech then charged at the enemy and began cutting down scores of them with ruthless precision with its laser blade.

The enemies kept up its attack but were getting nowhere as their foe was easily dodging and countering them with ease. Soon the mech decided to end this. The orbital bits split into multiple bits and then spread out around in large area surrounding the enemies and fired. The vicious laser barrage devastated the opposition and wiped them out leaving the Harvester Flagship as the only enemy left.

The flagship began to charge up its laser with the new mech summoning its bits back to its form. The laser blade retracted back and a large laser cannon materialized over the right arm and fired a quick high caliber laser shot that went right into the flagship's main cannon before it could fully charge and stopped it right there. The mech's weapon dematerialized before the mech turned and flew past the still Harvester flagship. A few seconds after it passed the ship did the fireworks begin as a huge explosion followed after, turning the ship into a massive fireball and shrapnel followed by another blinding light that engulfed both the explosion and the mech while it was still flying away.

* * *

**Chapter XVII End.**


	18. Act of Defiance

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. Leave it at that!**

**Chapter 18: Act of Defiance**

* * *

"Wow. They sure know how to make a mess." Rabat said as his ship flew through the remnant of a massive battle. There were floating debris from the Harvester and Melanos fleet as well as some of from the third faction known as the Bacterians, the ones that his clients had told him to keep his distance from since they've been out to get them for a while.

"So the Bacterians were here too? Though I wonder why they've always been on their case." He muttered as he kept looking at the ruins of many ships.

Soon after passed more floating debris…he saw a sight that couldn't be possible in anyway. A massive hulk of a ship was still floating there in deep space, torn apart as sections of it were burning from still leaking and burning fuel and many scraps from the ship floating around. The ship had been blown to kingdom come by what appeared to be a massive explosion that tore it from the inside.

Rabat knew what that ship was…a Harvester battleship. But that didn't make any sense to him.

"There's no way!"

As much as he wanted to deny it the undeniable proof was there in front of him. An entire Harvester battleship utterly obliterated! There was no way the Melanos fleet could have done this on their own, there was just no possible way they could have done this with the level of fire-power they had on hand. That much he had confirmed much earlier for his clients. This was no doubt going to piss the Harvesters off if they heard that the battleship had been utterly reduced into a floating wreck.

Which begged the question? What could have had enough firepower to cause this devastation?

It was then that he spotted something in the distance and went to check it out. It was a mech but one he hadn't seen before in his life. While he had seen the giant blue Vandread before this one was much smaller than it. He scanned the mech and was surprised to see that there were two occupants in it and they were not coherent right now. He smiled as he saw a huge payday in front of him as his clients would love to get their hands on this mech. However just as he was about to close in on the mech he heard multiple bolts of energy fire came right at him forcing him to take evasive actions. He looked to find the culprits only to see familiar floating bits: The Options! Which meant that Seth Reager or worse a Gradius Squadron was in the area. Rabat swore as he found himself surrounded by many of those things and some others which were surrounding the mech he found protectively. He gritted his teeth as he knew that he'd be turned to swish cheese if he stayed here any longer. So he cut his losses and left the area. Few minutes later, a cruiser showed up in the area just as the mech split up back into another mech and a space fighter.

…

Seth suddenly woke up and noticed himself in an unfamiliar room. Visions of that battle for Melanos came back to mind. The whole Melanos Fleet and some of the Bacterian attack forces were wiped out by one Harvester Battleship. The terror of seeing such large numbers wiped out didn't faze him since he's already seen it not to mention experienced it firsthand but Hibiki went ballistic and wanted to get payback. Seth tried to get in the way and a bright light engulfed them and from there his vision went black. Then he vaguely remembered being inside a mech cockpit, one that reminded him of another, and seeing the Harvester Battleship and the remaining enemies being destroyed. Then it all went black for him and he wakes up here.

His senses went into full alert that very moment as he tried to access the situation. First he was obviously not in a Bacterian ship so that was good news. He wasn't in a cell or strapped to his bed so that also ruled out him being a prisoner or they were confident in their ability to handle him. But what about Hibiki? Where was the little brat? Then there was the fact that the Nirvana crew would be worried sick about them. Seth had to find the brat and get them off wherever they were.

Quickly getting to his feet Seth also noticed that he was still in his flight suit which was another relief for him. He also checked himself and noticed that his kukri was still on him but his sidearm was gone.

'_Well that's better than nothing.' _He thought as he made his way to the door before sensing someone already at the entrance. He quickly pressed himself to the wall and waited for the person to enter.

"Already awake and jumpy aren't we?" A feminine voice comes from behind the door. A voice Seth recognized.

"M-M-Miranda?" Seth stuttered out as he quickly sheathed his kukri and walked out of the room. Greeting outside the room was his sister figure Miranda who was standing there with her hands on her hips and a smile on her face.

"Of course it's me Seth. Who else were you expecting?" She replied.

Seth walked up to her and gave her a big hug which the older woman happily returned. "I'm so glad to see you again."

"Same here Seth. Same here." The two broke the hug after. Seth was about to question her before she beat him to it.

"You're wondering where you are and also looking for your little friend too? He's fine by the way. A little banged up but he's making a smooth recovery. I just wanted to see if you were up yet." Miranda stated, "As for the current situation I'll be explaining that in the conference room."

Seth sighed in relief that Hibiki was okay and that he was going to know what was going on. First Miranda led him towards the sick bay of the ship. There he found Hibiki sitting on the bed with a few bandages on him but so far looking much better. Hibiki looked up and saw Seth along with Miranda before running to them. "Hey Seth! You alright?! What's going on here? You know these people?"

"Yes I'm fine and I can see that you're also doing better." Seth replied, "Well I know this woman here. My sister figure Miranda Locke, a former Gradius pilot and also the last pilot of the Alpinia. Miranda meet Hibiki Tokai, fellow crew mate on the Nirvana and pilot of the mech called a Vanguard."

"Nice to meet you Hibiki." Miranda said.

"Um sure…Nice to meet you too Miranda." Hibiki replied nervously.

"No need to be nervous kid. I'm a Gradian so I'm not like the other women you've been told about by your government on Tarak."

"You're a Gradian like Seth?"

"Yes she is Hibiki and she's going to explain what's going on." Seth added.

"Yes I am. Now would you two come with me?" Miranda said.

…

Inside the large conference room, Miranda along with her assistant Hana, sat down across from Hibiki and Seth. Seth had seen many of the people he'd known on the colony station he was at before he went on that mission on Tarak.

"So how come everyone's on this ship and not the colony?" Seth asked.

Miranda and Hana both frowned which didn't sound good.

"It was Rabat. Someone in the colony sold us out to the traitorous son of a bitch who then told his masters about us." Hana said, "Apparently Rabat wanted to make you pay for nearly killing him during your last encounter."

Seth was pissed. Thanks a lot to Magno, he nearly lost Miranda and the other members of the colony to the Harvesters. Oh he was going to make sure to voice his anger about this.

"What!? Rabat sold you out!" Hibiki said loudly.

"Yes he did." Miranda replied, "I'm more surprised that Seth didn't take him out when he had the chance."

"You can blame the captain of the Nirvana for that." Seth said in annoyance, "She's the one that stopped me from taking him out when I had the chance and it nearly cost you all your lives."

"How did you all escape from the Harvesters?" Hibiki asked.

"We managed to intercept a message from Rabat to the one who sold us out. It mentioned that the Harvesters were coming to the colony and that they should disable the security before leaving. With that we were able to confront the bastard and kill them before we escaped in advance. Good thing too as the Harvesters vaporized the colony." Miranda explained.

Seth sighed in relief. "Thank goodness you all escaped. Still this wouldn't have happened if Magno didn't get in my way. Still that begs the question, how did I and Hibiki get here?"

"Well we found your ships powered down among the wreck of what was once a Harvester Battleship."

"What?!" "Seriously!?" Both Hibiki and Seth yelled in shock and surprise.

"Yes." Miranda confirmed.

"Who or what destroyed the battleship?" Seth asked, "Because I don't remember me or Hibiki taking it out."

"That we'd like to know Seth." Hana added, "If you nor Hibiki destroyed it then what?"

Hibiki and Seth tried recalling the events that lead to them being here. They both left the Nirvana to get away from the riot on the ship and to recover the wayward Vanguard pilot respectively. Not long after they were assisting the Melanos fleet against the Harvesters and the Bacterian attack fleets in a three way battle. The Harvester Battleship suddenly fired its main cannon which wiped out the whole Melanos fleet and some of the Bacterian forces. Hibiki out of fear and anger charged at the battleship with Seth getting in the way before they got engulfed by a bright light and brief images of the inside of a cockpit, followed by explosions…Suddenly it clicked for the two.

"No way…" Seth muttered.

"…We actually combined?" Hibiki finished.

"I take it from the surprised expressions that you two figured out what happened." Miranda stated.

"We may have been responsible for destroying the Harvester Battleship. How we did that, we're not exactly sure but we can vaguely remember how it happened." Seth replied, "However we'd need to send a message to the Nirvana. With what happened to that battleship the enemy would no doubt be livid."

"Right! We need to warn the others!" Hibiki added.

"The Nirvana? You mean the ship that you've been on all this time?!" Miranda asked.

"Yeah. Also we need to let them know that we're fine too since we've been gone for a while. After that we'll be going back too."

"Alright…we'll allow you to contact them. Besides I'd like to have a word with the one in charge of that vessel."

…

Back in the Nirvana there was an unnerving tension among the crew as two members of their crew had not returned back. None were tenser than Dita and the other members of G-Team except Akira who was locked in the brig for instigating the riot from earlier. Dita was worried about her Mr. Alien being out there on his own and Annette, Lisa and Monica, though confident in their male team leader, were no less concerned about him.

Soon a screen appeared in the Nirvana's bridge with the Dread team leader and the redheaded Dread pilot on it.

"Captain please do something!" Dita cried, "We have to go find Mr. Alien before something happens to him!"

"I second that. With your permission Captain I'd like to lead a team to go search for him and Seth." Meia added.

"I admit that I'm also worried about those two." Magno stated, "Permission granted. Gather a team and go search for them."

"Roger that Captain."

"Hey! The G-Team wants in. Our leader's out there after all." Annette spoke up as she, Lisa and Monica appeared on the screen too.

"Yes. You three are coming with me, so are Dita, Jura and Barnette." Meia said before she and Dita went off the screen.

"Captain!" Amarone cried, "We have an incoming message."

"Patch it through." BC ordered.

Appearing on the monitor was a woman with long brown hair, tanned skin and blue eyes.

"Magno Vivian?! I never expected the leader of the notorious Mejere pirates to be one in charge of the Nirvana! Nice to meet you. Name's Miranda Locke."

Magno and BC widened their eyes as they remembered the name of Seth's sister figure and the fact that she was now talking to them.

"So you're THE Miranda. Nice to finally make your acquaintance. Seth has told us a lot of good things about you." Magno replied.

"Of course he has. Apart from the Reagers, I was the other person that looked out for Seth and helped him through the crap back on Gradius." Miranda said, "Anyways long story short I'm calling to say that I have two members of your crew here. One of them a Hibiki Tokai from Tarak and Seth whom I'm surprised you made a part of your crew considering our planets' history."

The crew sighed in relief when they heard that good news.

"Well both proved themselves as invaluable members of our crew after all." Magno said.

"I see. Well in Seth's case it's no surprise considering how skilled he is." Miranda remarked.

"Well can you put them on please?" BC asked. Seth immediately came on the screen.

"Hey you all…Sorry for worrying you!" Seth said nervously.

"Sheesh Seth!" Magno deadpanned, "I had just given Meia permission to send a team to look for you and Hibiki."

"Well things happened and they led to this point. Hibiki and I are on our way back right now. Just wanted to inform you and also let you and Miranda talk before we left…well Hibiki's already off. We both have something important to tell you anyways."

"You two boys do that. I'll have Meia and the others will meet you along the way."

"Roger that! We'll see you guys soon." Seth cut off the link.

"Well I'd like to thank you for taking care of those two." Magno said.

"No problem and I'd also like to thank you for taking care of the one I consider my little brother. He's been through hell you know." Miranda replied.

"Of course we know about what he put up with and you're welcome too."

"Good then. Anyways your crew members are on their way back and I've got to go now. Got a whole crew of people to take care of after we had dealt with a problem of our own. Take care of Seth for me okay!" Miranda gave a two finger salute before she ended the transmission.

"Captain. A large signature is leaving the area while the Vanguard and Alpinia are approaching us now." Belvedere reported before noticing another thing, "Also another signature is approaching us…it's a Gradius fighter…the red and white one, Lord British?!"

"Huh?! It's coming here alone?!" Ezra asked in confusion.

"That's Cecilia if I recall. I wonder why she's coming back here by herself. Either way tell the others to meet her too." Magno stated.

…

Outside the Nirvana the welcoming party met the Vanguard and Alpinia.

"Mr. Alien! Are you all right?!" Dita cried.

"Heh, I'm fine." Hibiki replied with a smirk.

"Are you sure about that?" Jura spoke up.

"I'm sure. Some old pals of Seth helped patch me up so no worries."

"Leader!" The G-team members cried out.

"I'm back team! I'm not going anywhere." Seth replied.

"Well I'm glad to see that you two are here." Meia said.

"Yeah…Same here." Barnette added, "You both had us worried you know."

"Well shit happened which led to one hell of a clusterfuck and all the way to now." Seth replied, "Anyways let's get back home. We've got something important to tell you all!"

"Hold on. The bridge's told us that something's approaching us." Meia said, "It's the Lord British?!"

"Oh? Cecilia's here by herself? That's a surprise." Seth said as he saw the red and white Latis space fighter approach them.

"I bet you're all surprised to see me here and by myself right?" Cecilia asked.

"Yeah. You could say that." Jura commented, "And why are you back here anyways?"

"That's something I'd rather tell your captain, but you can say that I'm more or less in the same boat as Seth now." Cecilia replied.

"We'll bring you to the captain so that you can explain yourself. However if you try anything…" Meia said leaving the warning at the end.

"I know that. Don't worry I won't do anything dumb." Cecilia said.

With that the ships wasted returned back to the Nirvana.

…

When everyone arrived, Duero called Seth and Hibiki in for a diagnostics check to ensure their condition. He'd been told that Seth's friends had patched them up but he still needed to give a second opinion. After he was done he gave them the green light since they had recovered well. Seth and Hibiki then made their way to the conference room where Cecilia was already seated in front of Magno and Buzam.

"Thank the Goddess you two are alright! Glad you could return to us." Magno said in relief.

"Yeah. It's good to be back home though it was nice to see Miranda and the others." Seth replied first.

Hibiki also nodded and replied, "I'm good to go thanks to Miranda and her people."

"You mean Miranda Locke? The test pilot of the Alpinia?" Cecilia asked.

"Yes, the one and only and also the sister I wish I had." Seth confirmed.

Magno smiled, happy that both men were on good condition and was grateful to Miranda for keeping them safe, but she needed to know just what had happened after the two had left the Nirvana and also know why Cecilia was here. Buzam nodded as well, while she too felt relief that they were all right, she was able to hide her feelings on the matter a lot more than the others. Like Magno, she needed to get to the business at hand about what had happened and Cecilia's presence back here.

"I know that now is not really the best time to be asking you two this but we need to know what happened when you two left." BC began.

Hibiki wasted no time explaining what happened earlier. His meeting with the Melanos fleet who had been targeted for the skins, which made Magno, Buzam and Cecilia frown in disgust. Then with difficulty he mentioned the Harvester attack on the fleet along with the appearance of the Bacterians which escalated the battle into a three way conflict. That detail surprised the captain, second in command and the Latis pilot.

Then Seth continued from there and talked about how he had arrived and had tried to help the Melanos fleet and Hibiki to combat the Harvester and Bacterian forces right up till the Harvester battleship obliterated the entire Melanos fleet and some of the Bacterian forces before explaining about Hibiki and his possibly combined mech annihilating said battleship and the rest of the Bacterians before Miranda's crew found them. Needless to say Magno and BC were even more surprised but impressed too about that too. Cecilia was in complete disbelief at what she heard.

"While it was a shame that the Melanos fleet was wiped out, it's great that you two destroyed the battleship and came back safe." Magno said.

"That may be so but we still have other issues to address." Seth said before frowning at Magno and yelling, "Like the fact that because of you not letting me get rid of Rabat when I had the chance!? Thanks to you the scumbag nearly got Miranda and the other people back at our colony killed by his masters! If not for them intercepting the message from him to his spy there they wouldn't have been alive! I told you that letting that dog shit go was going to turn out bad and it nearly did! Proud of yourself?!"

Magno was dumbfounded and so was Cecilia, but BC did not approve of Seth's yelling.

"You're out of line Seth! No one expected that to happen!" BC said.

Cecilia became annoyed and spoke up, "Well it happened and you should be glad that it didn't cost Seth at the end. This Rabat guys needs to get shot on sight."

"And I'll be the one to pull the trigger when next we cross paths." Seth said, "Anyways as for the other issue, since their battleship got destroyed the Harvesters are no doubt going to do everything in their power to get rid of us once and for all before we become too much of bigger pain in their behinds and an influence to other planets."

Magno and Buzam nodded with the Gradian's assessment they had a lot of planning to do from here on out. Before that they needed to know Cecilia's motives.

"So Miss Daley, may I know why you decided to return to us?" Magno asked the Latis pilot.

"I'm here to help of my own volition." Cecilia answered.

"Why? For all we know you could be pretending to help so that you can grab Seth and leave with him for Gradius." Buzam stated with suspicion.

"Let me guess…shit's hit the fans huh?" Seth probed.

Cecilia sighed. "Yes it has. In fact Gradius anticipated your refusal to come in willingly and are sending a full squadron after you and they have no qualms about destroying the Nirvana to get you considering the fact that it's mostly comprised of Mejerians."

"So Gradius is willing to go that far to get me back?"

"Yes they are. The squad's even has Naomi's parents in it who have come out of retirement and we both know how determined they are to get you back, not to mention how much they hate Mejere like almost everyone on Gradius."

"Why am I not surprised that those two still haven't given up? Looks like I'll have to get the message across to them…again." Seth sighed.

"Well that complicates things. I had a feeling that that would happen but didn't expect it to get that bad." Magno sighed, "But that still leaves you Cecilia."

"Well I'm helping a former comrade. Is that a problem?" Cecilia deadpanned.

"No one said it's a problem Cecilia and while I'm glad to see you here again there has to be another reason why you're here?" Seth said.

"Something big is about to go down. I have no idea what it is and only the higher ups at Gradius and Latis know. Whatever it is it's brought you and the Nirvana some reprieve since Gradius is holding off on sending their squadron after you. Also Latis secretly gave me orders to leave the task force and join you guys in your battle against the Harvesters, as for why that's need to know info."

"So your planet more or less allowed you to join us. I'd like to thank them for that and you for coming to our aid." Magno said.

"No problem ma'am. I'm more than happy to help you all fight the good fight." Cecilia grinned.

"Glad you're here Cecilia. It means a lot." Seth said.

As much as the reunion was good, Buzam had to cut it short to ask about their other threat. "What about the Bacterians? Do you think they'll be joining in on this attack?"

Seth shrugged and replied, "Knowing them and the fact that the Harvesters destroyed a large number of their forces, they'll not pass on a chance to get some payback not to mention a chance to get rid of us before we become a bigger problem for them."

"Well they are a vengeful bunch after all." Cecilia added.

…

**Unknown place…**

"**Master, the Harvesters are on the move once more. Apparently their spy has given them the coordinates of the human vessel known as the Nirvana."**

"**Hmm…The same vessel with the Gradian pilot among their crew?"**

"**Yes. Said pilot was also part of the trio involved in the destruction of Solar Assault. The Harvesters were not happy with the destruction of one of their battleships by them and now want destroy them completely."**

"**Pathetic. We lost units and yet we're not whining like those parasites over our losses. They lost one vessel and they are acting like children. No matter, send 'The Intruder' to 'assist' the Nirvana. We still need them in our plans for the Harvesters."**

"**Yes Master."**

**"Such a shame I have to keep them around for longer. Still they have their uses after all."**

…

The news that was delivered to the Nirvana was very worrying. The thought of having to face a Harvester Battleship, something that none of them had ever fought before certainly didn't sound good for the crew. They had been briefed on how deadly that ship was and the details made many of the crew uneasy on how to defeat such a monster of an enemy and its forces, there was also a chance that the Harvesters would have developed new weapons in which to fight them, their battles so far had told them that much.

Still they was some hope for them as they heard about Hibiki and Seth's mech combination destroying a Harvester Battleship, even though they weren't really coherent when it occurred. Not only that the addition of the Latis pilot and Seth's former teammate Cecilia Daley boosted their morale as that meant more firepower for them. Such good news gave those on the Nirvana hope that they could still win this if they planned ahead, but even they wondered if they could actually defeat this massive monster of a ship. Those thoughts ended when the alarms went off signifying the arrival of the enemy and everyone scrambled. Arriving outside the Dread Squadron set themselves in position as with Meia and Seth at the head of the formation.

"So...do you think we can beat them?" Jura asked, "I mean with just us? I know that Seth and Hibiki somehow beat one of those things but can we do it again?"

"Only one way to find out isn't there?" Cecilia deadpanned.

"I want you to oversee operations for the A team Jura. Barnette I want you to command the B team and Seth G team's yours to command." Meia said, "And Cecilia, you can you stick with Seth and his team since you're more familiar with him."

"I got no issues with that." Cecilia replied.

"Meia…" Jura said in a distant tone, "I don't like losing on general principles."

"Neither do I." Meia replied.

The members of G team formed up behind Seth, including Akira who'd been released. Cecilia joined them too.

"Is everyone accounted for?" Seth asked his team.

"Yes everyone's here." Lisa answered.

"Even Akira?"

"Yes…even Akira. Everyone's needed for this." Annette said. "What are our orders then sir?"

"Ok that's good to hear." Seth said, "As for orders we'll simply engage the enemy with everyone else but if Bacterian forces show up in the battle we engage them instead. We all have to work together on this." That part was directed at Akira who stayed silent. The G team acknowledged their orders. Seth's monitor came on showing's Cecilia face.

"Working together again. Just like Operation Solar Assault huh?" Cecilia said.

"Yeah except we're not fighting the Bacterians or assaulting a huge planetary destroyer." Seth replied.

Not long the Harvesters came with a fleet just for them. The fleet consisted of sea urchins, a squadron of cube fighters and their large, intimidating battleship.

"About time they showed up. I was starting to get bored." Seth said as everyone saw the enemy in front of them.

Cecilia added, "It looks like the saying if it's worth doing it's worth overdoing is definitely being applied here, considering that they're sending this fleet after us."

It was then that Pyoro's voice was heard over the radio.

"ATTENTION! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO EXIST OTHER THAN AS PARTS TO BE USED BY US!"

"Okay?! What the hell!" Cecilia yelled.

"It's the enemy!" Ezra said, "They must be using Pyoro as a communication channel."

"So the enemy at least has a voice huh?" Magno said before addressing the enemy, "I suppose you don't mind telling us who you are and where you're from?"

"WE ARE MESSENGERS FROM THE PLANET KNOWN AS EARTH." The enemy answered through the possessed NAVI-bot.

"Earth huh?" Seth muttered, "THE planet Earth has stooped this low? How pathetic!"

"The planet our ancestors came from?" Amarone said, "So they're the ones that have been hunting us?"

"YOU MUST FOLLOW YOUR DESTINY!" The possessed Pyoro continued, "WE ARE THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY. YOUR ORGANS WILL ENSURE OUR EXISTENCE FOR YEARS TO COME. THE ACT OF FIGHTING AGAINST YOUR DESTINY IS AN ACT AGAINST THE EARTH. IF YOU CONTINUE THIS FOOLISH ACT THE ONLY OTHER ALTERNATIVE IS COMPLETE ANNIHALATION!"

"Wow…you fuckers are so full of shit." Seth mocked, "It's our destiny to be harvested by you?! Don't make me laugh! The only ones who deserve to be annihilated are you genocidal bastards!"

"You!" The enemy said, "Your planet not only brought disaster to us and another evil upon us, your acts of defiance also caused more defiance all over the galaxy; by all rights…your kind should be destroyed on principle."

"Actually you fuckers brought it on yourselves when you attacked Gradius. It's not our fault that our act of defiance spurred other planets on to resist you, not to mention it got you the wrath of someone worse." Seth countered, "But please do go on and add to your already noted stupidity."

"Um Seth…Can you please not taunt the enemy into killing us faster?" Cecilia asked nervously.

"Too late. Besides they're already here to kill us anyways." Seth deadpanned.

"You've got a point there." Cecilia said cheekily.

Immediately the Harvesters began their attack and the Nirvana crew began their own attack.

"You just had to piss them off Seth!" Bart whined.

"Shut up and do your job navigator!" Magno yelled.

"Dread Teams commence attack!"

"Roger!" "Let's do this!"

"G Team, disperse and engage freely! Cecilia you're with me!"

"Who made you the boss of me?! Whatever I'm with you either way!"

Receiving a "Roger" from his team including Akira, Seth and Cecilia flew forward, immediately grabbing the first kill of the battle after shooting down a pair of cube-type with his Twin and Ripple lasers.

* * *

**To be continued…**

**The fight begins!**


	19. Cornered Animals

**Vandread: Unsung Hero**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vandread or Gradius. Leave it at that!**

**Chapter XIX: Cornered Animals**

* * *

The battle between the Nirvana crew and the Harvester fleet sent to eliminate them by their masters had begun in full swing and got heated very quickly. However, the dreads and the Vanguard found themselves being pushed due to the fact that the enemy had not only learned to evade attacks, but they now were able to predict the flight patterns of the Nirvana's forces.

"Damn it! They've gotten smarter!" Hibiki yelled as he was missing his sword attacks against a few cube types which were easily evading him.

"The enemy have learned to predict our movements." Meia gasped after just barely avoiding a collision with an enemy cube fighter, "All units remain alert at all times!"

Seth, G-Team and Cecilia however were having an easier time shooting down the opposition.

Cecilia scoffed, "Please. These guys are nothing compared to what me and Seth have fought."

"True but it doesn't mean that you underestimate them. That's why you mix things up anyway." Seth said.

Then he fired his Psycom missiles again which then scattered into many mini missiles which the Harvester units couldn't avoid this time. Then he followed up with the Option Lockdown on more Harvester units which were also unable to escape the storm of attacks that destroyed them.

However, one cube type had been out of range of those attacks and had gotten behind the Alpinia's flank while it was defenseless during its Option Lockdown. But before it could attack the Gradius fighter a pair of laser shots destroyed it. Hearing the explosion Seth looked up as the Lord British flew past.

"I've got your back Seth." Cecilia said, "Those are some impressive upgrades you got on the Alpinia. Where did you get them?"

"Thanks. As for the upgrades it's a long story Cecilia. After this battle I'll tell you about it." Seth replied.

"Alright I'll hold you to that." Cecilia said, "Well then let's show these freaks how WE fight."

"Yeah! Let's do this thing!"

The two pilots from Gradius and Latis dove right into the fireworks and began wreaking havoc on the Harvester forces. The enemy had been prepared to deal with the dreads and Alpinia, but with the Lord British joining the fray the battle was quickly falling out of their favor. Thanks to the efforts of the Gradius and Latis pilots they managed to minimize the damage done to the allied side. There were still some injured but not as bad as it could have been if not for Seth and Cecilia.

Seeing that the battle was not going the way they expected, the Harvesters decided to unveil their new weapons. Suddenly, swarms of cube types showed up and began circling around each other much to the Nirvana crew's confusion. Seth and Cecilia however had a bad feeling about what the end result would be. That feeling was confirmed when the swarms transformed into evil looking copies of Vandread Meia, Vandread Jura, and Vandread Dita.

"Okay…what the fuck are those?!" Cecilia asked in disbelief.

"But how? They've learned how to make copies of the Vandreads?" BC gasped in disbelief.

"Cute. That's a nice trick." Cecilia said sarcastically, "Though what the hell's a Vandread?!"

"Our trump card against the Harvesters." Seth answered, "The fact that they made copies of them just shows how pathetic and desperate they're getting."

"Uh Leader…Now's not the time to…" Annette began before she got interrupted when Seth and Cecilia flew forward and fired waves of missiles and lasers destroying the three Vandread copies, making her sweat drop.

"Did you say something Annette?" Seth asked.

"On second thoughts ignore my last statement." Annette sighed.

"Tch! All show, no substance. Nothing but smoke and mirrors, nothing like the Bacterians." Cecilia said. As if to give her and Seth 'the finger' the cube types recreated the three Vandread copies. "Oh you can't be serious!"

"Anymore bright ideas?" Jura deadpanned.

"Hey! It's not like I expected them to reform after blowing them up." Cecilia deadpanned back.

Suddenly the Nirvana was slowly being pulled out of position by an unknown force.

"What's going on?" Magno asked.

"The unknown planet at our 10 o'clock is creating a strong magnetic field, and it's pulling the Nirvana into it." Ezra answered.

Belvedere quickly scanned the planet and found some information. "High density of gas particles detected. If this keeps up there will be system abnormalities." the blonde operator stated.

Magno growled in annoyance, "Just what we need at a time like this!"

Seeing how the battle had escalated Meia gave the order to retreat.

"Well that didn't take long. Cecilia, I'll leave you in charge of G-team. Get them out of here. G-Team, listen to her, got it?" Seth ordered.

"Sure thing. /Roger!" Cecilia and G-Team members acknowledged. The Latis pilot wasted no time getting the squad to regroup and get away from the battlefield and without an issue.

"Hibiki!"

"Yeah Seth?"

"Let's combine and cover everyone's retreat."

"Alright! Let's do it!"

The Vanguard and Alpinia flew towards each other before being covered in bright light and in place was the same black and silver, gold trimmed mech that they had unconsciously used earlier to destroy the first Harvester battleship. The new unit had quickly attracted a lot of attention.

"What the hell?!" Cecilia yelled. "The Alpinia and that mech combined together?!"

"Looks like the Alpinia and Vanguard combined. We now have another weapon." BC stated.

"And the enemy isn't too happy to see it." Magno added.

Which was true as many of the cube fighters came after the transformed mech.

"Looks like they're not happy to see this guy again." Hibiki joked as he saw the enemy from the cockpit of the new mech. The interior looked like that of a two seater space fighter with Hibiki sitting slightly below Seth. The Tarakan youth on the controls and the Gradian on the weapons systems.

Seth smirked, his eyes glowing orange as he looked at the incoming enemy. "Then let's get them reacquainted with…The Assassin."

The newly named mech began its deadly dance, taking out multiple cube types with homing missiles before going after the bigger threats.

The copy of Vandread Meia had swooped in behind the dread leader and flashed by at sonic speeds, ripping off the wing of the dread and sending Meia into a wild spin. Fortunately, Gascogne was able to catch her dread in time with her own ship. However, the copy Vandread came back for another attack. Suddenly it found itself in the vice grip of The Assassin and violently got its head ripped off by the Alpinia/Vanguard mech combo and its remaining body tossed away like trash. A gruesome image that Meia and Gascogne had to witness.

Seth appeared on Gascogne's monitor. "Go! We'll cover you while taking out the trash!"

"Whoa there Seth! Are you in that?!" Gascogne asked.

"Yeah, and so is Hibiki. But we'll talk about that later. Just get back to the Nirvana!"

The Reg Central Leader wasted no time getting out of dodge while The Assassin went after another target. Fake Vandread Dita was about to take another shot at its target when it got impaled from behind and a blade came out from its chest.

"That'll be enough out of you." Hibiki yelled. Assassin then removed the blade from its victim before quickly decapitating it.

"Mr. Alien!" Dita yelled happily hearing Hibiki's voice.

"Just get back to the ship!" Hibiki replied.

"Okay!" The cheerful redhead said before flying away.

"Geez! Can't she tone it down a little?!" Hibiki muttered.

"Less whining, more fighting!" Seth reprimanded.

Assassin then shifted its focus to Fake Vandread Jura, launching its Options bits at the copy Vandread, causing it to stop harassing Jura and put up its shield to protect itself from the unrelenting barrage. Too bad that was a distraction as Assassin was suddenly behind it charging up its large laser cannon. It then fired its rail gun like attack which went right through the copy Vandread's shield and destroyed it.

"You okay Jura?" Seth asked.

"Yeah I'm fine! Thanks!" Jura said in relief.

"Good to hear. Now retreat back to the ship while we cover your retreat." Wasting no time Jura flew back to the Nirvana while Seth and Hibiki focused on the Harvester Battleship.

"And then there was one!" Seth said.

Even with all that the Harvester Flagship just released more cube types and some of them reformed the copy Vandreads once more, making both pilots groan in annoyance.

"Again?! This is getting old fast!" Seth exclaimed.

"Agreed! There's no end to them!" Hibiki added.

"_Seth! Hibiki! Everyone's back on the Nirvana! It's just you two left!" _BC contacted the pilots on the comm.

"Tch! Roger that!"

"We're on our way!"

The Assassin did a quick 180 and made a beeline for the Nirvana with the enemy in hot pursuit. Just as it got closer to the hangar the mech separated back into the Vanguard and Alpinia, with both managing to dock in time before the Nirvana got pulled into the planet. The Harvester forces tried to enter too but upon seeing a few cube fighters and a copy Vandread getting crushed by the planet's gravity they decided to give up the pursuit and retreat away from the planet. Then they laid in wait for their target to come out.

…

Seth climbed out of the Alpinia and walked over to Cecilia as the mechanics wasted no time in getting to work on his fighter. As he approached her he noticed the depressing and fearful mood of everyone else in the hangar.

"Morale isn't looking too good Seth." Cecilia spoke up.

"I noticed that Cecilia. Not surprising due to how things have turned out." Seth replied.

The Latis pilot put a hand under her chin in thought. "So the enemy's just going to wait for us until we all die in here or we come out? Either proposition does not look good."

Seth scoffed, "So they've basically backed us into a corner? Big deal! It's not like this is any different from what we dealt with during Solar Assault."

"While you're right about us, the others can't say the same thing since they weren't part of that mission." Cecilia pointed out. "They already think they are doomed. Even with us bolstering their ranks they still don't see themselves winning this."

Seth put a hand on his forehead as a familiar feeling came back, "Well I'm sure as hell not going to do just roll over and die."

Cecilia saw this gesture and immediately got concerned. "Hey, are you feeling alright Seth?"

"I'm fine, Cecilia. It's just the adrenaline high. We just came back from a battle after all." Seth deadpanned, trying to lessen his team mate's concern. "I just need a little rest that's all." He began to walk away.

Cecilia sighed. _'Still the same old Seth. I still can't fathom how he can be a pilot with hypertension dogging him.' _Suddenly she heard a thud, followed by gasps and looked to see the male Gradian flat on his face. "Seth!" she yelled as she rushed to his side.

"Leader!" The women of G-Team yelled and ran forward, except Akira who looked surprised by what occurred.

Checking his pulse, Cecilia's eyes widened at his temperature. "Damn it! He's burning up! Seriously Seth, why are you still flying with your condition!?"

"How's he?" Lisa asked.

"He's burning up! We need to get him to the med bay now!" Cecilia stated.

"We'll help." Annette said. She and Monica managed to get the Gradian up and support him just as he groaned.

"Ugh! Everything's spinning…and why do I feel like I'm being boiled alive?" Seth said.

"Don't push it leader. You need help." Monica said.

"Really? I…huh? Why are there…so many of you people?" The Gradian replied.

"Just shush it Seth and let them get you to the med bay!" Cecilia exclaimed.

"Tch! Fine…" Seth gave in and let his subordinates get him to the med bay.

Cecilia shakes her head after watching them leave. She then noticed Dita with a terrified look on her face before walking up to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Dita right?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah, Cecilia." The redhead replied.

"Quit worrying yourself. We're going to be fine." The Latis pilot said.

"Do you really think so? Everyone seems so sad."

"I know that we'll fight our way out of this. Don't forget that Seth and I are here too and we sure as hell won't let it end like this."

"Are you sure? Mr. Seth seems ill."

"Nah. Don't worry about the big guy. He's just exhausted from the last battle. A few minutes with Duero and some rest and he'll be back."

"I can't take it anymore!" Jura yelled, "Why are we picking fights we can't win? It's so pointless."

"There has to be something we can do." Dita muttered before running out of the hangar. Cecilia walked up to the blonde woman who was curled up in a ball.

"And what makes you think we can't win this?" Cecilia asked, getting the blonde's attention.

"Can't you see the mess we're in? We're trapped like rats with no way out." Jura exclaimed.

"And so the best thing to do is to just roll over and die right?" Cecilia sarcastically asked.

"I never said that!" Jura protested.

"Well that's what you're telling me from where I'm standing." Cecilia deadpanned.

"Well I'm not saying that! And why are you acting so confident? Don't you realize the mess we're in?"

Cecilia glared at Jura, startling her. "Oh I do get that we're in one hell of a fine mess, but moping isn't going to help the situation is it? I was in a similar situation but on a grander scale. It was during Operation Solar Assault when Gradius and Latis sent me, Seth and Naomi to destroy the fortress that was on a course to our planets."

"They sent just you three?! That's suicide!"

"Yes, to someone from the outside it was suicidal, but to Gradius and Latis, it was another day in the office. Sure we were all scared, and yes even Seth was scared but he hid it well. We knew that if we gave up and didn't do anything then there'll be no tomorrow for everyone. Which is the same thing I'm going to tell you, don't give up or there'll be no tomorrow."

With her piece said, Cecilia left Jura alone. However just as she was about to leave Akira got in the way.

"Akira…What do you want?" Cecilia asked in a hostile tone. With what she'd heard about this bitch and who she's related to, Cecilia had every right to be hostile.

"So you're his friend huh?" Akira began.

"Yeah, you can say that." Cecilia replied, "What about it?"

"What do you see in him? He's a man and a criminal too. Why haven't you cut ties with him yet?"

"Because he's no criminal." Cecilia replied, "Seth's been through enough, no thanks to scumbags like Rabat and your despicable siblings. Really?! Killing his parents and sending a video of the deed to him while telling him he's next? The fact that he hasn't gutted you yet since you're related to them is a surprise to me."

Akira gritted her teeth. "All my sisters did was their duty as citizens of Mejere. That couple that showed up was an abomination to us. Man and woman together? Even if they came from another planet, Gradius should have known better than to send them as envoys to us."

"So that justifies your sisters murdering them in cold blood? All your planet should have done was just send them away. It won't have been a big deal and Gradius would have just left it at that." Cecilia said, "But NO…you just had to let your stupid bigotry get the best of you and instead insult Gradius by sending them the chopped up corpses of their envoys and also Seth's parents. Your sisters and every other bigoted woman on Mejere are nothing but monsters that should have been eradicated."

"That's not true! We're not monsters! Nothing like the men!"

"No. You're all hypocritical monsters. We've seen records and images about your planets. All you are is a bunch of egotistic assholes. The men segregating their own by some stupid caste system. Yours having stupid competitions just to show off. It got so bad that many of your own people lost their homes with those same people being a part of this very same crew. Gradius just wanted to offer an olive branch to you and Tarak, but you just spat in our faces. Tarak were lucky that their leader was a damn good diplomat. However, Gradius only spared you fools because they felt that crushing your egos would be enough to knock some sense into your heads. From what I can see, that wasn't a good idea. If this had happened to Latis, Mejere would have been no more."

Akira was stunned to silence by Cecilia's words. The Latisian just glared at her a little bit before walking past the girl and out of the hangar towards the bridge.

…

Seth was on the bed in the med bay thanks to Duero being able to help lower the man's high blood pressure. After giving the Gradian some medicine, the ship doctor ordered him to rest, which the Gradian reluctantly acknowledged. On both sides of the bed were Annette, Monica and Lisa.

"Seriously leader. How the heck can you be a pilot with your condition?" Monica sighed.

"Simple. Be staying calm in battle." Seth simply answered.

"Even with that you shouldn't be flying in your condition." Annette scolded with Lisa nodding in agreement.

"Well I've been doing it for a while now. Not my fault that the bad hand I was dealt in life with contributed to my condition anyways." Seth stated before looking around the med-bay. There were other wounded pilots here, Meia and Barnette being part of them. Seth frowned as he noticed the gloomy and fearful mood of everyone in the med bay which was just as bad as in the hangar.

'_Cecilia is right. They are not that used to this much pressure like Gradius and Latis pilots. Still this won't do.' _The Gradian thought.

Dita suddenly arrives in the med bay. "Doctor, we need some kind of medicine to help make people feel better."

"I'm sorry, Dita but I don't think medicine would help in this situation." Duero calmly replied.

"But everyone is saying that it's pointless." Dita protested.

"Yes it is, Dita! Open your eyes!" Paiway yelled, "We're risking our lives for planets that don't even care about us and now we're about to die!"

"But there has to be something we can do. We can't give up right now after surviving all this time." Dita said before turning to Barnette, "Do you feel the same way, Barnette?"

"Leave me out of it!" Barnette snapped at the redhead, "You know that, I never liked your bubbly personality! And I don't need to hear your sappy speech."

The redhead looked at them with a sad look on her face before she broke into tears and left the med bay.

Shaking his head, Seth gets off the bed much to the displeasure of Lisa and Annette, and walks to the dread pilot with a glare on his face. "Was that really necessary Barnette?"

Barnette quickly moved her eyes away from the Gradian, "I've got nothing to say to you."

Seth just sneered at her, "Of course, you don't. I wouldn't expect that from a cowardly bitch!"

Barnette turned her head instantly with a pissed off expression. "What did you call me?"

"A cowardly bitch. What? Am I lying?" Seth replied with a smug grin. That got a punch coming right at him that he quickly caught with one hand. Another one came and that also got caught with the other hand.

"I'm not a coward!" Barnette exclaimed.

"Damn right you're not." Seth replied, surprising the woman, "The Barnette I know, the rival of mine and the fiery pilot would be ready to charge right back in and finish the fight! So why the hell are you cowering right now?"

"I'M NOT COWERING!" Barnette yelled as she struggled to get out of the Gradian's grip.

"Unfortunately, you are." Seth said, staying calm. "And you're taking it out on the wrong person, though I'm not surprised why. You're terrified just like everyone else here right?"

Barnette gritted her teeth and averted her eyes from Seth's calm gaze.

"Looks like you've given me your answer." Seth said before releasing his grip, "Well you're not the only one who's terrified…I am terrified." That surprised everyone in the med bay. The Gradian ace pilot of the Nirvana was terrified. "Yes. It's the truth. However, I'm not moping about or bitching and moaning like some of you and I'm sure as hell not going to curl up and die because of the enemy's power, especially when me and Cecilia have faced worse. Not only that the people that I've come to see as a big family to me are in danger!" That really got everyone even more surprised.

Seth straightened himself, "I was disowned by one neglectful family and I lost one due to a bunch of bigots. For a while since I've joined you guys I'd slowly come to see you all as one big freaking family that I care about! I've already lost too much and I sure as hell don't want to go through that agony again. Even with hypertension I'm ready to fight tooth and nail to protect my family! Right now those fuckers are out there waiting for us to die in here…Well the fat lady hasn't sung yet so too bad for them. I've gotten my second wind and I'm going to finish this fight. What of you?"

With that said Seth turned around and made his way to the exit.

"Seth, you still need to rest!" Duero called out to him.

"I'll rest when I'm dead!" Seth yelled back as he left the med bay.

Not long after the Gradian left, Annette stood up and said, "Well, you heard him G-Team. We have a fight to finish!"

"Damn right!" Monica agreed.

"And we also have to make sure he doesn't overdo things either." Lisa added.

"Yeah…That too." Annette said. The three women rushed out of the med-bay after their team lead.

…

On the bridge, Cecilia was speaking with Magno about their current situation. The Latisian had been trying to get the captain to raise the low morale of the crew and she wasn't making progress.

"The crew is in a bad place right now Cecilia, and they all think it's hopeless to try. They were confident at first due to when they heard about Seth and Hibiki's victory over the flagship, but the enemy's retaliation has made them think there may be only a slight chance for our victory, but even then many of them have lost the will to fight." Magno explained.

"Is that it? Are they just going to roll over and die because of what the enemy sent against us?" Cecilia asked in anger.

Magno was quiet for a while before she answered, "Well I for one do not intend to wait for the inevitable and so do a few of the crew but everyone else is too afraid and are cracking under the pressure. I know that you and Seth are used to such pressure because of Operation Solar Assault, however, the crew here are not like you two and without certainty of our victory I can't give the order to just send my family into the belly of the beast just to allow us to escape."

"Then you can just send me and Seth." Cecilia said, "The two of us will be more than enough to hold them off while the Nirvana escapes."

"I'm no taking chances with you two either, especially Seth." Magno replied. "With his health condition there's a good chance of high blood pressure doing him in and that could also affect you too in the process."

"I'm afraid that won't matter either ways since such a plan won't work." Parfet said as she appeared on the captain's terminal screen.

"Oh and why do you say that?" Cecilia asked.

"The Peksis is acting really strangely now so I doubt the ship will move at this rate." The engineer replied.

"Oh for the love of..." Magno groaned, "What's it doing now?"

"From what I can tell its building up internal pressure." Parfet reported.

"What do you mean by that?" Cecilia asked, "And what the hell is the Peksis?"

"Oh that's right I forgot you're still new here." Magno said to Cecilia, "The Peksis is the ship's energy source, but sometimes it gets a little unstable. Do you have any idea what it's trying to do Parfet?"

"From what I can tell I think it's trying to preserve itself." Parfet said, "It knows what's going on and its building up internal pressure as a way of preserving itself. It's basically the same thing that happened when all of this first started."

"You mean when we were thrown across the galaxy?"

"Yes and at this rate it's going to wait for the planet's gravity to crush us and the pressure it's built up will keep it safe."

"In other words, it's taking the coward's way out. Bullshit!" Cecilia stated before she turned around to leave the bridge.

"Just where do you think you're going?" Magno called out to the Latisian.

"To the hangar, where else?!" Cecilia replied as she left the bridge. "I'm going to fight instead of cowering here like a coward."

…

In the hangar Hibiki was currently running calculations and simulations with Pyoro on a plan he cooked up to get them out of their scenario: Transforming a gas planet into a star.

"Well, do you think it will work, Pyoro?" Hibiki asked the Navi-bot.

"I'm afraid not. Although it's true that this planet is about to turn into a star, it's impossible to carry out this mission by yourself." Pyoro explained.

Hibiki pinched the bridge of his nose, "Okay, next plan then."

"Humans." Pyoro sighed.

"You got a problem with us?" asked an intimidating voice, freaking out Pyoro. The owner turning out to be Seth Reager.

"Looks like you're back up. Feeling better?" Hibiki asked while focused on Pyoro's screen.

"I've got my second wind and I'm itching for round 2." Seth replied, "So what have you cooked up in that head of yours?"

"This planet is about to turn into a star. I'm thinking if we can get the core to a certain temperature we can make it go nova and that will wipe out the enemy or at least enough of them so that we can escape." Hibiki answered.

"I hope you have a way of us getting out of the blast radius. I don't have any plans to get cooked alive." Seth stated.

"That's what I'm still working on. Everything else is good." Hibiki said.

"Have you considered using boosters? I'm sure you could build one from spare parts in no time." BC suggested as she came up on the platform.

"We've already calculated boosters into the equation, but we're still short by 20 seconds." Pyoro said.

"Really!? That blows." Seth sighed.

"So that's it then?" Hibiki muttered.

"Don't throw in the towel yet, Hibiki." Seth said.

"You've come a long way since this all began. You're a lot more mature now." BC complimented Hibiki.

"Look, if you're saying that to make fun of me then don't bother." Hibiki stated without looking at her.

"Not at all, I'm merely giving you a compliment." BC happily stated.

"Hard to believe considering your sense of humor." Seth deadpanned.

"I do have a good sense of humor." BC replied, "Better yet, shouldn't you be in the med bay resting?"

"I'll do that when I'm dead." Seth replied.

"You're not going suicidal on us are you?" BC asked.

"No, I'm not." Seth said.

"Could have fooled me." BC grinned. It was then that the speakers in the Nirvana came to life with Dita's voice on it.

_"Hey everybody, listen up! We might lose and we might die, but that's what life is isn't it? We've all decided to fight this battle and we decided to fight it because we didn't want someone other than ourselves deciding our future for us or controlling our destinies, but now you're all losing heart and giving up. That's a mistake please don't say it's hopeless because if you say so then it'll become true. I'll never give up and I'll never say it's hopeless because I want to be with all of you forever because I love all of you, so you have to look deep within your hearts to find hope." _Her voice began cracking as she continued, _"If we give up now then we're going to lose, but I'm telling you we can still win I know we can! So please…don't give up…that's how we got this far isn't it? And I know that as long as we try hard and stay together we'll never lose so I'll say it once more…please don't give up!"_

"Idiot..." Hibiki muttered with a smile on his face, "Well you heard her! We're not going to give up yet!"

"Like we ever intended to." Seth said.

"Glad to see you're still confident, Seth." Hibiki replied.

"Glad to know that you've matured, Hibiki. In fact, after we win this I'll be helping you with that self-defense training you asked for." Seth stated.

"I'll hold you to that." Hibiki said as he went back to his plans while BC smiled before walking away.

"Nope still impossible." Pyoro said and Hibiki immediately growled in reply, "Will you stop saying that?! Nothing is impossible!"

"Exactly! Quit being so negative." Seth added.

"Leader!" Seth turned around to see Annette, Monica and Lisa running up to him.

"Nice of you to join us ladies." Seth said. "Where's Akira though?"

"We don't know. Ever since we got back she's been nowhere to be found." Lisa answered.

Seth sighed in annoyance. "Tch! We don't have time for this. We have a fight to finish and if Akira wants in she'll show up." He then turned to Hibiki. "You got anything else that can help?"

"How about using my dread?" Meia asked, "That should take care of your speed problem."

Seth face palmed. "Of course! How could I have forgotten about your Vandread's insane speed?"

"With that the plan's complete." Hibiki smirked. Soon Jura entered the hangar followed by Cecilia, Barnette and other dread pilots.

"So this is where you've been hiding?" the blonde pilot asked, "You should know better than to try hiding things from me. I have a sixth sense for things that are interesting." Cecilia rolled her eyes at Jura's ecstatic behavior and Barnette sighed.

"Jura's ecstatic behavior aside, I take it that we have a strategy to turn the tables." Cecilia said.

"Yeah. Hibiki's got one hell of a plan cooked up. Hopefully we don't end up being cooked instead." Seth said.

"Seth…That's not even funny." Barnette deadpanned.

"Whatever…Good to see that you've gotten your second wind Barnette." Seth said.

"Of course. I don't want you to leave me in the dust now do I?" Barnette grinned.

Right now the atmosphere in the hangar seemed to have gotten better as everyone was scurrying around the entire ship preparing for round 2 of the battle they fled from and their confidence went through the roof.

"Looks like Dita's speech gave everyone the necessary boost." Cecilia stated.

"So did Seth's own back in the med bay." Meia added.

Dita then enters the hangar and stands in shock and awe that everyone actually listened to her.

"Look who finally shows up." Seth said looking over his shoulder.

"Well what are you standing there for?" Hibiki asked Dita, "You are part of the master plan, so no slacking off got it?"

Dita got out of her shock before excitedly replying, "Okay!"

With the pilots all gathered Hibiki told everyone his plan and everyone's roles in it. The teen also informed BC and Magno about Hibiki's plan which the pirate captain agreed to, even though it was a crazy plan in its own right.

Seth was about to slide into the Alpinia before Cecilia called over to him.

"Where's Akira?"

"How should I know? The last time I saw her was in the hangar before I was taken to the med bay."

"Same here, I left her in the hangar too after we talked."

"We'll bother about her later. Got a fight to finish."

"Right…"

"Alright! Time for some action!" Hibiki said as he strapped in his seat, before Dita suddenly contacted him over the radio.

_"Um excuse me Mr. Alien?"_

"What is it? I've already gone over everything with you."

Dita shook her head, _"No, it's not that. It's just…I want you to promise me something. When this is over I want you to promise to come see my room."_

Hibiki's face turned red, "C-can't we talk about this later?"

Dita shook her head again, _"No! Promise me right now!"_

"Fine! I promise!" The Vanguard pilot sighed.

Dita smiled, _"Thank you! I'll be waiting okay!"_

Hibiki sighed again before grinning, "Alright let's go!"

Before launching out of the Nirvana, Seth contacted Cecilia and the other G-Team members.

"Alright. We have our objectives. We're to provide cover for Hibiki and Jura once Phase 1 of the plan starts. So stay in formation and keep the fuckers off them. Got that?"

"_Copy that Seth!"_ Cecilia responded.

"_Roger!"_ The other G-Team members replied.

Seth grinned as the engines of the Alpinia roared and the hangar doors opened. "Alright then! It's game time!"

Seth, Cecilia and G-Team broke through the surface of the planet and began attacking the enemy fleet that had waited for them, skillfully evading their counter attacks while Hibiki and Jura combined to form their Vandread which proceeded to shield the entire planet. Meia, Dita and Barnette used their dread's lasers to heat the gas planet's core beginning the operation.

The enemy was ruthless in their attacks against Vandread Jura, but the Alpinia, Lord British and the G-Team dreads easily held the line and defended them.

…

"How are things going?" BC asked.

"_Operation's going smoothly so far." _Meia reported, _"Dita, adjust your angle! You're off point."_

_"Sorry."_ Dita cried out as she adjusted her dread's firing angle.

"Three minutes left until the pressure crushes us!"Belvedere informed the pilots.

_"Roger that. Just a little more..."_ Meia said as she and the others continued, _"There! It's time Parfet!"_

**...**

In the core room, Parfet smiled as she looked on at her team.

"Alright! Here we go!" she said, "Energy reverse!"

The engineering team began flipping multiple switches in the core room which reversed the flow of energy and forced the Peksis to disperse the built up energy throughout the ship and out of it and into the planet.

"Energy levels are returning to normal." Belvedere announced.

"Nuclear fusion has been achieved." Amarone reported.

"Good. Bart, turn the ship around and get us out of here!" Magno yelled.

"Roger that!" Bart responded and wasted no time getting the ship around and making its getaway followed by the three dreads.

"There's our cue, G-Team. We're out of here." Seth ordered.

"On your six!" Cecilia responded. The G-Team wasted no time retreating back to the Nirvana.

…

"Dita, from here on speed is everything!" Meia said to her subordinate.

"Roger that Meia!" Dita acknowledged.

"Dita!" Barnette called out, "Do your best."

"I won't let you down." Dita replied.

"We're about to break through the planet's surface." Barnette informed Hibiki and Jura.

Hibiki and Jura dropped the shield and defused Vandread Jura, allowing the Vanguard to free fall.

"You're out of position." Meia yelled as she and Dita broke through.

"That's because you took so damn long!" Hibiki retorted.

"Save the yelling for another time! You still have work to do!" Seth yelled.

The silver dread adjusted its flight path, intercepting the Vanguard and fusing into Vandread Meia and quickly grabbing Dita's dread before gunning it from the flare approaching behind them.

Belvedere sighed in relief as she reported that the dreads landed, except for Seth and Cecilia who stayed outside to cover the ship.

"There's an asteroid field in front of us!" Amarone cried out in panic as the Nirvana was approaching such.

"What the hell have you gotten us into Bart?" Magno yelled out.

"Sorry I'm a little busy right now!" Bart yelled back, too busy trying to keep ahead of the flare.

BC hopped into a bridge console and ordered the bridge operators to switch to manual thrusters and sync with Bart's movements. Multiple asteroids suddenly got destroyed by laser fire and Alpinia and Lord British flew past the Nirvana with their Options out and firing.

"Seth! Cecilia! What the hell are you doing?" Magno yelled.

"Clearing the way!" Seth replied.

Vandread Meia finally approached the Harvester Flagship.

"Dita, begin the next sequence!" Meia ordered before she and Hibiki defused and allowed the two to combine into Vandread Dita. She quickly turned around and made her way back to the Nirvana. She then saw Seth and Cecilia fly to her side.

"What are you still doing out here?" Meia asked.

"Making sure the family returns safe and sound." Seth answered.

"Well it's up to them now." Meia said.

The large blue mech detached its shoulder cannons and joined them together to form a giant lance. It rears back while channeling the weapon with the energy of the flare and throws the lance at the enemy flagship with full force. The flare powered lance easily overpowers the flagship, tearing through the ship, with the energy of the flare triggering multiple explosions and engulfing the ship in flames.

"Did they get it?" Cecilia asked.

"I don't see anything moving. They really did it." Meia said as they watched the explosion they flew away from.

However, the situation changed quickly when the Harvester Flagship came out of the flames but heavily damaged all over.

"No way!" Dita cried out.

"Bastard's a glutton for punishment." Seth growled. He then spots a flare approaching Vandread Dita. "Vandread Dita! A flare is coming your way, get the hell out of there!"

"Not yet!" Hibiki said.

"Yeah, not yet!" Dita followed.

The flare reached the Vandread and engulfed it in flames.

"Captain, we've lost their signal." Amarone reported.

"Hibiki you idiot!" Bart cried, "None of this would mean anything if you're dead!"

The crew began fearing the worst but Seth however had other plans.

"It's not over yet!" He stated.

_"Damn right it isn't!"_ Hibiki yelled over the radio. The Vandread flies out of the flare, its armor glowing red hot from the intense heat.

The blue Vandread flew after the damaged Harvester Flagship, intent on finishing it off. However, a large flaming dragon suddenly appeared and engulfed the escaping enemy ship, destroying it once and for all.

"What the hell!?" Hibiki yelled in surprise.

"What is that!?" Dita added.

Seth and Cecilia instantly recognized the enemy.

"Hibiki! Dita! Get away from that thing if you want to live!" Cecilia yelled.

Vandread Dita wisely obeyed and got away from the flaming entity.

"_**That was wise of you to tell them that Latisian."**_The unknown being said in everyone's minds.

"The Intruder! What are you doing here?" Seth demanded.

"_**Simple Gradian, I came to destroy that battleship. Thanks for making the job easier by the way and you're welcome too."**_The Intruder responded.

"Why did you help us? I doubt that you did this out of the goodness of your heart." Magno asked.

"_**You're quite correct. I only did this because I was ordered to do so since we share a common enemy." **_The Intruder replied. _**"Don't expect this to happen again though."**_

"Like we ever expect you and the Bacterians to ever help anyone." Seth growled.

"_**Oh believe me, the temptation to eradicate you Gradian, Latisian and your allies is there. But as I said I'm under orders to only 'assist' you this once. The next time we meet only one of us will be leaving alive." **_The Intruder said before leaving the area immediately.

"Duly noted." Seth said.

"That makes no sense. The Bacterians 'helping' us? What do they expect to gain?" Cecilia asked.

"Nothing. 'Cos they intend to destroy us all either ways." Seth answered.

…

After Vandread Dita and the others returned to the Nirvana, a tired Hibiki climbed out of his Vanguard, surprised at the huge applause he was getting from the crew.

"Welcome back!" Dita and Jura said to him, just as he fell out of the Vanguard's cockpit and into their arms.

Jura pulled him toward her and excessively thanked him especially by repeatedly kissing him on the cheek which made Dita jealous.

"Hey, stop that!" she cried, pulling Hibiki away from her.

"What's wrong with you?" Jura growled, "I was only trying to thank him for saving my life."

Dita shook her head, "Well you can't, Mr. Alien still has a promise he has to keep."

"A what?" Jura asked, "What kind of promise? Tell me!"

"We've got a problem!" Pyoro shrieked, flying up to them.

"Out of my way! Can't you see I'm busy?" Jura snapped at the Navi-bot.

"There's no time for that! Take a look at this!" Pyoro said as his screen changed to show a map displaying four enemy blips on a course towards Tarak and Mejere. "Earth has discovered that we destroyed their battleship and in response they have rerouted the others from surrounding solar systems and they're heading straight for Mejere and Tarak!"

"There are four of them!" Jura gasped as she stared at the screen.

A quick wave of quiet swept across everyone in the hangar.

"What are we going to do?" Barnette asked, "We were barely able to beat one of them."

Seth scoffed at the images, "Simple… We'll just destroy them again just like today. They can keep sending them and we'll keep knocking them down." He then turned to Hibiki and smiled, "We'll stand together just like we did today and prove to them again and again that there's nothing they can do to stop us. Isn't that right Hibiki?"

Hibiki smirked back at the Gradian, "Exactly, we can't back down!" Hibiki said as he got to his feet and clenched his fists, "No matter how high the wall we have to climb over it to show proof that we exist and to do that we have to take the path we have to take."

Pyoro suddenly shrieked before falling to the floor, his screen completely blank.

"Pyoro!" Dita gasped reaching out to the NAVI-bot which immediately jumped up and hovered high into the air, its screen still blank.

"POINTLESS." The small robot said in the same voice he used when he was being used by Earth to communicate with them.

"Is that?" Dita gasped.

"The enemy?" Meia finished.

"Tch! Here we go again. Another pointless monologue." Cecilia sighed.

"YOUR VICTORY MEANS NOTHING, ALL YOU'VE DONE IS ACCELERATED THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR WORLDS. YOUR EFFORTS ARE POINTLESS."

"Is that all you've got to say?" Seth said in annoyance, "If so, then shut your mouth and go sulk in that shithole of a planet you live in. We have no interest in hearing your bullshit."

Pyoro hovered over the crowd and stopped almost directly above Seth and Cecilia. "You…the defiers. Your time will come."

"Not as soon as yours." Seth countered.

Pyoro's screen flashed static and the NAVI-bot fell to the crowd where Dita caught him.

"Those bastards. So full of themselves." Cecilia said.

"On that we both agree. Not to mention their annoying voices." Seth said before smiling, "Well forget about them right now, I believe that a victory celebration is in order."

The crew definitely had their victory party in the cafeteria. Well for only a few hours as everyone was exhausted due to the intense battle they won to begin with and most of them turned in for the night as a few of them chose to stay awake.

…

Seth stood in front of Akira's room as he had been looking for his subordinate ever since the conclusion of the last battle. He had searched the places where he thought she'd be and had no luck, so now he was at this last spot.

"Seriously. That girl…She's so gonna get it." Seth muttered. He then stepped towards the door which slid open and he walked inside, though he found it odd that she didn't lock the door.

"Akira. We need to talk." Seth said as he entered the room. No answer came and that annoyed him. "I know you're in here girl. Seriously we need to talk."

He reached a part of the room and noticed blood on the floor, instantly raising red flags in the Gradian's head. He followed the trail and discovered Akira's body lying in a pool of blood.

"Akira!" Seth yelled rushing to the girl's side. He lifted her up and saw a hole in the side of her head. He then noticed a laser pistol lying not far from her, which meant that it was the weapon used for the deed. The Gradian stayed on the floor in silence and disbelief, holding the corpse. Black sheep or not, he did not see this coming from the girl at all. It was then he noticed a data pad with a video on it that had been recorded earlier. He didn't know why he did, but he took the data pad and played the video. Needless to say Seth lost it when the video was done.

"Damn it…" Seth muttered before getting louder, "DAAAMMMN IIITT!"

* * *

**CHAPTER XIX END.**

**That ends the First Stage, but the journey still continues for Seth, Cecilia and the Nirvana crew. Whether they succeed or not will be decided in the Second Stage.**

**Finally. Done. Took me a damn long time but I managed to get this done. Now there's the next part. Hopefully I'll get that done too. So look forward to it.**


End file.
